Heads or Tails   Heads or Tails 
 by Red Skye 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 [A.R] M/F/M 
 
 NOTES: 
 ��������-This is Ray's thoughts- 
 ��������=This is Fraser's thoughts= 
 ��������{Meg's thoughts} 
 ��������*equals emphasis* 
 
 ��������***????**** denotes the feeling of confusion 
 ��������*#@*$#* denotes mental cursing. 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray's mother watched her son unwrap the spontaneous 
 gift she'd given him with expectation as he wondered what it 
 was and why the hell she was giving it to him. It didn't 
 really matter, it was nice to see the smile back on her face 
 she'd been so depressed since attending her old friends 
 funeral, he vowed to paste on a smile and say he loved it 
 whatever it was. 
 ��������What it turned out to be was a set of a very expensive 
 new after shave/Cologne he'd seen advertised on television, 
 the commercial that always made him laugh because women 
 dropped like flies around the L.A stud who supposedly wore 
 it. 
 ��������He broke into a genuine smile. 
 ��������"Ma, you shouldn't have." 
 ��������"You ran out." 
 ��������"Is that why you brought this? This is so expensive."�������� 
 ��������She patted his cheek. 
 ��������"If I can't spoil my son once in a while what's the 
 point in being a mama." 
 ��������He smiled and hugged her and she watched expectantly as 
 he opened the bottle and sniffed it. It took everything he 
 had not to rear back and hurl the offending bottle away. 
 ��������-Ohgod no don't take that smile off her face, relax.. 
 Smile- 
 ��������"There were so many to chose from but I remembered 
 hearing you talking to Benton about that." 
 ��������-Saved- 
 ��������He screwed the lid back on. 
 ��������"Ma, we were discussing the commercial Fraser just 
 didn't get the joke.. I wasn't hinting to any one that I'd 
 like a bottle of it." 
 ��������"I like the way it smells." 
 ��������-You would it smells just like the cheap stuff pop 
 always wore- 
 ��������"And the salesman said it was a very popular scent, 
 that a lot of women are buying it for their men because they 
 like it." 
 -And if you believe that I've got a bridge to sell you- 
 ��������"Maybe you'll get lucky with it." 
 ��������-Ohgod no I am not going to wear this no way no how- 
 ��������"I'll save it for my special dates." 
 ��������-That should do it- 
 ��������She took the bottle from his hand opened it then 
 splashed a little on her hand and patted it on his cheeks. 
 ��������-GAG ARRRGHH NOOOO I DON'T WANT TO SMELL LIKE *HIM*- 
 ��������She capped the bottle then sniffed at him and smiled 
 brilliantly. 
 ��������-Did you *have* to light up like a nova *sigh*- 
 ��������"It smells even better on you.. It's supposed to change 
 subtly for every man who wears it." 
 ��������-Forget subtle I want drastic *gag*- 
 ��������"Smells great." 
 ��������-Please God don't make me wear this a second longer 
 than I absolutely have to- 
 �������� DING-DONG 
 ��������-Saved by the bell- 
 ��������He grabbed the bottle then spun to rush away and answer 
 the door. 
 ��������-A trip, Opps, bye-bye bottle *evil grin*- 
 ��������Frannie beat him to the door opening it to the Denim, 
 and silk clad Mountie in mufti. 
 ��������-Perfect witnesses to my *accident*- 
 ��������He deliberately hooked his toe under the rug and let 
 himself fall, the bottle and glass atomiser flying from his 
 hands and sailing through the air as his arms pinwheeled. 
 ��������"Ray!" 
 ��������Francesca spun to see the bottles flying through the 
 air, and she and Fraser both struck out to catch the air 
 borne bottles. Ray hit the floor catching himself on his 
 hands at the last minute with an Oomph and a groan that 
 wasn't feigned as he heard two slaps that told him two glass 
 bottles had met palms. 
 ��������"Got it!" Frannie crowed. 
 ��������"Good catch." Fraser praised her. 
 ��������-DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN- 
 ��������"Lady Killer cologne - Ray, I can't believe you fell 
 for that *add* and blew your money on this." 
 ��������-Don't look at me, it was ma- 
 ��������Then his mother was there clucking and helping him up 
 to his feet and dusting at his clothes. 
 ��������-You're really starting to scare me, ma- 
 ��������"I'm O.k, I'm O.K.. I just tripped on the carpet," he 
 said and then spoilt it all reached out to push her 
 fluttering hands away. 
 ��������As his hand touched hers and applied gentle pressure an 
 agonising pain shot up his forearm and he couldn't contain 
 the cry of pain, or his reflex action of nursing the 
 affected wrist. 
 ��������-Oh NO!- 
 ��������Frannie and Fraser hurried over as his mother went into 
 my *baby* is *dying* mode. To Ray's relief Frannie fended 
 their mother off. 
 ��������-I owe you one- 
 ��������Fraser moved in reaching out to take his elbow, his 
 sleeve was slipped back and Fraser's hand was moving over 
 the injured limb gently but firmly looking for a break. 
 ��������-*????* *DOWN* boy- 
 ��������He couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine 
 at the contact and wanted to breath in the fresh clean Earth 
 Forest scent that clung to everything the Mountie wore. 
 ��������-He smells like Canada *giggle*- 
 ��������Then he registered what Fraser was wearing, Levi's that 
 almost moulded themselves to his legs, a blue silk shirt 
 that enhanced his eyes and a thigh length denim coat cut in 
 the Mountie dress coat style - the coat he'd borrowed one of 
 Fraser's dress coats to take to a seamstress to make, the 
 shirt, that coat, he'd given them to Fraser for his 
 birthday. The Levi's were Frannie's contribution that day. 
 And he couldn't remember ever seeing Fraser wear any of it 
 before. With a smile he opened his mouth to say something 
 about it. 
 ��������His words were never spoken Fraser's hand moved over 
 his wrist and the agonising stabbing pain up his arm 
 increased ten fold. His legs buckled and his head went back 
 in a scream of pain. The hand left his and he felt himself 
 being enfolded in a supportive hold by an apologetic 
 Mountie. 
 ��������"It's a bad break." 
 ��������Then his mother rushed off to the phone to hysterically 
 summon an ambulance. Fraser transferred him to his shocked 
 sisters arms in a smooth move and went after his mother and 
 slapped her once, hard, but not hard enough to harm. The 
 hysteric's ended and she ended up in his arms sobbing. 
 ��������-I'm past scared now ma.- 
 ��������The Mountie looked over her shoulder at the wide eyed 
 sibling's with an equally wide eyed look. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Fraser followed the seething Ray down the corridor 
 moving in every now and then to get between Ray's plastered 
 hand and wrist and the various things it would have thudded 
 into as Ray's arms flew around in high agitation. 
 ��������"The nerve of that *Quack!* saying all my mother really 
 needs is to get *laid*." 
 ��������=I know how the poor woman feels *sigh*= 
 ��������"Over compensating for her lack of a sex life by 
 turning into super mom to get affection Hah!" 
 ��������Fraser's nose tickled. 
 ��������=Ohno, not again I must have picked up a cold= 
 ��������He fought the urge to sneeze as Ray's ranting picked up 
 and put himself in front of Ray planted a hand in his chest 
 and stopped him in his tracks. 
 ��������"I have two words for you, Ray, Shut up." 
 ��������Ray was so amazed he fell silent. 
 ��������"I don't want to hear you calling that man a Quack 
 again." 
 ��������"But.." 
 ��������"I said enough. Or have you forgotten that man was the 
 same one who dealt with your wrist and the shape it was in 
 after that incompetent intern got through with it." 
 ��������Ray shuddered. 
 ��������"You went absolutely berserk and if you don't stop 
 ranting and calm down." 
 ��������Ray held up his hands. 
 ��������"I know.. I know.. They're going call for the guys with 
 the white coats with long sleeves and lots of buckles." 
 ��������"Exactly. If you want to rant. At least wait till we 
 leave the hospital." 
 ��������Ray nodded and Fraser opened his mouth but that tickle 
 in his nose became a full blown sneeze and he sneezed so 
 violently that he skidded a step or two back on the slick 
 polished floors, his hat flying off his head. 
 ��������"Now that's what I call a sneeze," Ray said as he 
 looked around, to find and scooped up Fraser's hat, then 
 studied the Mountie. 
 ��������"You're not getting sick on me are you Benni?" Ray 
 asked as he reached into his pocket pulling out a 
 handkerchief and handed it over to Fraser. 
 ��������Fraser raised it to his face and catching a whiff of 
 Ray's scent on it, inhaled deeply. 
 ��������=It smells just like him= 
 ��������"It was just one sneeze, Ray." 
 ��������"Yeah and what about the way you kept sneezing in the 
 waiting room.. You just couldn't stop till that nurse came 
 up and put that mask over your face. You shoulda seen a 
 doctor about it." 
 ��������"It seemed to stop after that. They said it was hay 
 fever from the flowers in the room." 
 ��������"There aren't any flowers here." 
 ��������He tucked the handkerchief away up his sleeve. 
 ��������"It was just one sneeze. It's stopped now." 
 ��������Ray stepped up to him to put his hat back on his head 
 and patted it down. Fraser took a discrete little sniff of 
 him and his hands flew back up to his face as once more he 
 skidded back down the corridor as the most violent sneeze so 
 far assailed him. 
 ��������=That *hurt*= 
 ��������"Like hell it has." 
 ��������Ray strode up, and hooked his plastered arm around 
 Fraser's to drag him back up the corridor as Fraser looked 
 at his hands feeling something warm and fluid on them. 
 ��������=*Blood*= 
 ��������The handkerchief was whipped out and applied to his 
 bloody nose. 
 ��������"We're here, we may as well take advantage of it and 
 get a doctor to take a look at you."�������� 
 ��������=Who's arguing?=�������� 
 ��������He and Ray were separated as another violent sneeze 
 erupted sending him skidding backwards down the corridor. 
 ��������=That *really* hurt= 
 ��������He looked at the handkerchief his eyes widening in 
 alarm as he saw how much blood stained the once snowy linen. 
 He felt a little light headed. He could feel the blood 
 running through his nose now, so much blood. 
 ��������=Why is there so much blood?= 
 ��������Then Ray was back at his side and clucking. 
 ��������=NO!= 
 ��������He sneezed again, the pain was incredible, and his legs 
 started trembling. Then Ray was there, in front of him, 
 covered in blood. 
 ��������=Oh no. I've ruined another one of his suits.= 
 ��������But there was no anger only concern on Ray's part as he 
 made Fraser reapply the handkerchief to try and stop the 
 blood that fountained out to splatter on the floor. 
 ��������"Watch out, bad enough you splattered me, don't 
 splatter yourself with it." 
 ��������=My shirt!= 
 ��������"No keep your head up like that.. It's not hitting your 
 clothes.. Over this way.. That's right there are chairs back 
 here." 
 ��������"Sit down, here.. Now." 
 ��������Fraser sat in the chair Ray lead him too and Ray leaned 
 over him tipping his head back. 
 ��������"Pinch your nose, I'll be right back with a doctor." 
 ��������Fraser let out a wail of pain as another sneeze erupted 
 from him as he was trying to obey Ray's command. Ray reared 
 back to avoid being splattered with blood again. 
 ��������"Breath through your mouth, Benni.. Pinch your nose and 
 breath through your mouth." 
 ��������Fraser followed his instructions, drawing in deep 
 shuddering breaths. 
 ��������=Hurts so much= 
 ��������"Under control now? You're not going to sneeze again 
 are you?" 
 ��������He couldn't nod so he gave Ray the thumbs up. 
 ��������"Good, I'll be back with a doctor, a nurse with an ice 
 pack.. You just sit tight. O.K." 
 ��������Then he was racing away and met up with disaster on 
 that slick floor, as he slipped in the puddle blood of that 
 was Fraser's. The next thing he knew he was flat on his back 
 his head was ringing, his gut awash with nausea and Fraser 
 was leaning over him, all concern, holding that blood soaked 
 handkerchief to his nose. 
 ��������Then he registered how white faced Fraser was and felt 
 blood dripping from that soaked linen onto his chest. 
 ��������-Gotta get up. Gotta get a Doctor- 
 ��������Before he could act, Fraser's eyes rolled back and he 
 had a faint Mountie collapsing over him. The breath he'd 
 just caught exploded out of him, leaving him breathless. 
 ��������-Benni! Ohgod!- 
 ��������The world spun as the ringing in his ears grew louder, 
 his eyes rolled back and he saw stars, before darkness 
 descended. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"If you thought she went gaga at home, you should have 
 seen how she reacted to seeing you lying on the floor out 
 cold with all that blood over your chest and Fraser out cold 
 on top of you with all that blood on his face." 
 ��������"I bet she got a doctor for us real quick shrieking, My 
 Baby," Ray said looking into the mirror twisting his head to 
 view the shaved spot and bandage on the back of his skull. 
 ��������"A doctor, she could have roused the dead with that 
 shrieking and wailing.. They dragged her off and sedated 
 her. I took her home, put her to bed, Maria is watching 
 her." 
 ��������"You shoulda stayed with her." 
 ��������"I didn't know what your condition was when I took her 
 home." 
 ��������"Bet it looked bad.. All that blood." 
 ��������She nodded and helped him make his way back to the bed, 
 he was pretty shaky on his feet. 
 ��������"You check on Fraser?" 
 ��������"All that sneezing burst a few blood vessels, and every 
 time he sneezed the damage got worse. That's why there was 
 so much blood." 
 ��������"He's going to be all right, isn't he?" 
 ��������"Oh yes, they've got an ice pack on it and gave him a 
 shot to make his blood clot faster, when the bleeding stops, 
 they'll cauterise it so it won't happen again." 
 ��������"Has he stopped sneezing?" 
 ��������"Yes, for now. They put an air tube in his mouth so he 
 wouldn't breath through his nose again and gave him 
 something for the pain and he's drowsing." 
 ��������"Well that's a mercy." 
 ��������"And you can see him for yourself, when they're done 
 they'll be moving him in here. He's in for the night, or 
 until they work out why he started sneezing so bad, which 
 ever comes first." 
 ��������"They gotta find out why he's sneezing *first*." 
 ��������"They will. The doctor got him to sign some forms, 
 they're going to preform tests before he's moved here." 
 ��������"How'd you get so much information?" 
 ��������"It's that Doctor, he thinks you and Fraser are.. 
 Involved." 
 ��������"What is it with that man?" 
 ��������Rather than explain that he got the idea after Fraser 
 had dealt with him going berserk she decided to distract 
 him, if possible. 
 ��������"Did you see what he was wearing?" 
 ��������"Who?" 
 ��������"Benton.. He was wearing the things we gave him for his 
 birthday. I thought he looked great in it." 
 ��������"Ha.. You think he looks great in anything he wears." 
 ��������"But he does look good in just about anything." 
 ��������Ray chuckled. 
 ��������"But he looked great in that." 
 ��������"That's the first time I've ever seen him wear 
 something I gave him. Maybe he had a date to make." 
 ��������"Benton. *snerk* The only person he ever dates is you." 
 ��������"Hardy har-ha." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray swung around the door way of the exam room to see 
 Fraser sitting on the bed pulling on his coat from the back 
 view. There was a strap around the back of his head. 
 ��������"There you are Benni." 
 ��������Fraser looked around as Ray entered, and Ray winced. 
 What could be seen of Fraser's face under the special air 
 filter mask he was wearing was a mass of ugly bruises. 
 ��������"You're up." 
 ��������"I thought they were going to transfer you to the same 
 ward they put me in." 
 ��������"I was, you must have been asleep.. I know you were 
 still sleeping when they woke me up and brought me here for 
 a few more tests." 
 ��������"Did they work it out?" 
 ��������"It would seem I've developed an allergy to something 
 in the air. I have to wear this," he touched the mask, "and 
 visit an allergist to find out what and undergo 
 desensitisation treatment..or leave the city." 
 ��������"The *City*! It's the air in here that did it to you," 
 Ray protested. 
 ��������"No, Ray.. My nose was reacting before I entered the 
 hospital.. Or didn't you notice the way I kept sniffling." 
 ��������"Oh, yeah.. You went through all the tissues in the 
 box." 
 ��������Fraser tugged the coat on, then picked up small gadget 
 with a chain attached and attached the chain to his mask 
 strap before popping the gadget into the coat's top pocket. 
 ��������"What's that?" 
 ��������"Pollutant gauge." 
 ��������Then he picked up another gadget and popped it into a 
 pocket along with another and another. 
 ��������"What's all that?" 
 ��������"Analyser, sampler and alarm." 
 ��������"Alarm?" 
 ��������"In case I have another sneezing fit like that and 
 can't stop sneezing." 
 ��������He picked up another gadget and after he checked it, 
 into the pocket it went, and then the final gadget was 
 collected and held out. 
 ��������"This is for you." 
 ��������Ray took it. 
 ��������"A pager?" 
 ��������"For the alarm. The alarm will sound here, then they 
 will use the pager to find out where I am, and I don't have 
 a phone, but you have a cel phone and.." 
 ��������"This is really serious, isn't it?" 
 ��������"Well, yes, sneezing that violently, constantly, could 
 lead to a broken rib, burst blood vessels.. I could even 
 choke on my own blood or pass out because I can't stop 
 sneezing long enough to draw breath - which almost happened 
 in the waiting room if you'll recall."�������� 
 ��������"Yeah.. I remember you turning blue in the face before 
 that nurse took charge." 
 ��������"That's why they gave me the alarm. I have to keep it 
 until I go through desensitisation or leave town. Which ever 
 comes first." 
 ��������"You are not leaving town."�������� 
 ��������"I may have to.. there's no guarantee desensitisation 
 treatment will work if it fails I will have no choice but to 
 leave. Take a transfer, back home if at all possible." 
 ��������"It's gonna work." 
 ��������He tucked the pager into his pocket and helped Fraser 
 down off the bed and held onto his arm as the Mountie 
 swayed. 
 ��������"You o.k there?" 
 ��������"It's the medication.. it makes me a little light 
 headed." 
 ��������"Yeah, well just wrap your arm around me." 
 ��������=Any time= 
 ��������"And I'll help you out to the car." 
 ��������"Thank-you." 
 ��������"Let's go." 
 ��������"The doctor.." 
 ��������"I already saw the doctor, I've got the medical 
 certificate for the Consulate. You're spending the rest of 
 the day in bed, Doctor's orders, but you don't have to spend 
 it here.. We've got to stop off and pick up a nebuliser and 
 then your coming back to my place.. You're not going back to 
 that flea pit till we get that place cleaned.. And ma can 
 cluck over you while I take care of everything." 
 ��������"Deifenbaker." 
 ��������"I'll get someone to take care of him.. You can't be 
 around him till this condition.." 
 ��������"Allergy." 
 ��������"Whatever is dealt with. That fur could set you off 
 again." 
 ��������"But I have my mask." 
 ��������"You can't wear that around the clock. That means no 
 fur, which means no contact with Deif. I already called 
 home. They getting the house as clean as possible. No 
 flowers. Remind me to stop at the front desk the doctor 
 arranged for an oxy kit so I can take care of you if you go 
 into another fit." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"Promise you're not going to go gaga again on me again, 
 Ma, you really scared us all when you did that," Ray said as 
 he let his mother pat that detested after shave on the face 
 she'd insisted on shaving for him, since he'd broken his 
 dominant wrist. 
 ��������"Did you take the pills the doctor gave you?" 
 ��������"Did you take the ones he gave *you*?" 
 ��������"Yes" 
 ��������"So did I. So are you finished clucking, I have to go 
 work now." 
 ��������"In *your state*, you're.." 
 ��������-Here we go again, cluck cluck, my baby, fuss fuss- 
 ��������The door opened and Fraser poked his head in. 
 ��������"Don't to forget to stop off and pick up some clothes 
 on your way back." 
 ��������Ray took the opportunity Fraser gave him to escape his 
 mother's clutches and moved in on Fraser. 
 ��������"What are you doing out of bed? You're supposed to stay 
 in bed.." 
 ��������"I need clothes." 
 ��������"I said I'll take care of everything. And I will."�������� 
 ��������Fraser's nose twitched and his eyes widened, his hands 
 flying to his face to grab at his nose then he was pulling 
 away from Ray to bolt away. Ray flew after him and was 
 almost knocked off his feet as the sneeze Fraser felt coming 
 on hit and the Mountie came to a screeching halt the force 
 of the sneeze threw him back, right into Ray. 
 ��������Then Ray was hustling him back to the bedroom with his 
 mother's help as fast as they could. Sneeze after sneeze 
 racked the Mountie's body until they got him onto the bed. 
 Ray worked fast to get the oxygen mask over Fraser's face, 
 hitting the release switch, between one sneeze and the next. 
 Fraser gulped in pure air while Ray and his mother shared 
 concerned looks over his back. 
 ��������-This is not good, not good at all- 
 ��������"Find the filter Ma. He has to put it back on." 
 ��������She looked around then saw it on the dresser and 
 hurried over to collect it. They oxygen treatment seemed to 
 do the trick, Fraser's sneezing subsided and he just sucked 
 in oxygen and shuddered while Ray stroked his head. 
 ��������"It's over now, Benni, just relax." 
 ��������With his mother's help the oxygen mask was replaced 
 with the filter mask in less than a second and Fraser was 
 made to lie back. 
 ��������"You O.K now?" 
 ��������Fraser's hand went to his head and his chest, then flew 
 to his gut. 
 ��������"I think..I'm going to.." 
 ��������He rolled fast to the edge of the bed as Ray dived for 
 the waste paper basket and got it under Fraser's head. Just 
 in time, Ray ripped the filter mask off as Fraser shuddered 
 and threw up into the basket. 
 ��������"There goes breakfast." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������With a grin Ray extended his cast out for a lovely lady 
 with a pen at the precinct station house who was the 15th 
 such person to offer to sign it. The cast was already 
 covered in saucy comments, a phone number or two and a 
 rather naughty cartoon one side. 
 ��������-Maybe that sales man was right about this cologne 
 being a babe magnet- 
 ��������Huey wandered up with a pen as the woman took her 
 leave. 
 ��������"What's your secret you've had more women flocking 
 around you today than I've seen in here at one time."�������� 
 ��������"Must be the after shave Ma brought for me." 
 ��������Huey signed the cast then took a sniff of Ray. 
 ��������"Not bad, it suits you." 
 ��������-Thanks muchly, not- 
 ��������"What is it?" 
 ��������"L.K" 
 ��������"Your mother brought Lady Killer Cologne for you?!" 
 ��������"Yeah.. She's been a really clucky mood lately, every 
 time I turn around she's doing something *nice* for me, and 
 hugging me and I'm telling you Huey - She's scaring me with 
 all the attention." 
 ��������Huey laughed. 
 ��������"Seriously.. She went into hysteric's when I fell and 
 broke my arm. I mean real hysteric's, wailing the works, she 
 was calling me "My Baby", Fraser had to slap her. And 
 Frannie say's that when we had that accident in the hospital 
 corridor." 
 ��������"What accident?" 
 ��������"Fraser sneezed so hard he burst a blood vessel there 
 was blood on the floor, I sat him down and rushed off to get 
 a doctor, only I slipped on the blood." 
 ��������He turned to show Huey the bandage on the back of his 
 head, pointing to it. 
 ��������"And took a tumble - 3 stiches." 
 ��������"Ouch." 
 ��������"And Fraser fainted right on top of me when he was 
 leaning over me and bleed all over me.. The blood was just 
 gushing out. And when Ma and Frannie walked in and there's 
 me lying on the floor out cold with a big blood stain on my 
 chest and Fraser's out cold with blood all over his face - 
 Ma really lost it. They had to sedate her and thankfully 
 Frannie took her home and tucked her into bed.. Or she'd 
 have been clucking around my bed side all night." 
 ��������"Well, considering the scene you described, I'd say 
 your mother had good reason to lose it in the corridor." 
 ��������"And this morning when I got back from dropping Fraser 
 back home after they released us from the hospital, Ma's 
 there, cluck, cluck, cluck, fuss, fuss, fuss. She wouldn't 
 even let me shave myself, or pick out my own clothes. And 
 the trouble I had getting out the door to get in here. I 
 swear the shriek she let out where I said I had to go to 
 work made all the glass in the bathroom vibrate. Fraser 
 showed up at just the right time."�������� 
 ��������"What was he doing there?" 
 ��������"He's staying at my place. He's got this allergy to 
 something that makes him sneeze so bad that a sneezing fit 
 could literally kill him. He needs to be watched till we can 
 deal with the allergy." 
 ��������"Sounds bad." 
 ��������"It is. He had another fit at the house. It made him 
 throw up and pass out and they cleaned that place from top 
 to bottom before I got him home. Which proves what the 
 Doctor was actually right when he said that Benni's allergic 
 to the air around here." 
 ��������"You mean he's allergic to Chicago?!" 
 ��������"Something in the air. And as soon as they work out 
 what, he's going through treatment." 
 ��������He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. 
 ��������"Look at all the stuff I've gotta do till we can get 
 him treated." 
 ��������Huey looked over the list. 
 ��������"This is gonna cost a fortune." 
 ��������"Yeah. Tell me about it. Oh, hey, I almost forget, I 
 gotta find people to look after Deif till the treatments 
 completed because Fraser can't be around him. The fur could 
 set him right of." 
 ��������He pulled out his note pad. 
 ��������"I've already got it covered till Thursday, could you 
 possibly take care of him on Friday." 
 ��������"I guess." 
 ��������Ray added Huey's name to the list. 
 ��������"The doctor said it could take weeks or months for the 
 treatment to be completed which means Benni can't be near 
 Dief till it's done can I.." 
 ��������"Ask me again, later." 
 ��������Ray added a "possible?" to Huey's name. 
 �������� "Vecchio!" 
 ��������Ray turned to scuttle off into Welsh's office. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Two 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������"I can't believe she did that to me." 
 ��������"Did what?" Fraser asked from his seat as he twiddled 
 with his gadget's linking one with the other. 
 ��������"Made Welsh send me home. She called him to wail in his 
 ear that I was sick, sick, sick and needed to be home where 
 I could be watched just in case I had *another* accident and 
 killed my self the next time. What are you doing?" 
 ��������"Did you know the pollutant gauge says the air in here 
 has more allergens per inch than the air outside?" 
 ��������-*sigh* Why is it the only person I can get sympathy 
 off lately is Ma?- 
 ��������Fraser leaned closer tilting his head to read something 
 that had caught his eye on the plaster. 
 ��������"Yours and Mine in 69." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������Fraser pointed. 
 ��������"That's what it says.. Did you break your arm in 69?" 
 ��������"Fraser sometimes you are just too innocent for words." 
 ��������"So what does it mean?" 
 ��������-Should I or shouldn't I - What the hell?- 
 ��������"It's referring to a sexual position. Turn the 69 on 
 its side and work out which one for your self."�������� 
 ��������=I will not blush, I will not blush= 
 ��������Fraser blushed. 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������Ray glanced around and chuckled. 
 ��������-G-d, sometimes he's too cute for words **???***- 
 ��������"I bet that doctor who said Ma needs to get laid thinks 
 it's our favourite position." 
 ��������Fraser turned an even deeper shade of red. 
 ��������"Can you believe that man.. Calling us *lovebirds* if 
 my arm hadn't been in plaster I think I might have decked 
 him." 
 ��������=*Siiiiigh*= 
 ��������"What a bloody insult.. Calling us *gay* like that. 
 Just because I like to look good doesn't make me *gay*. I 
 resent the inference that because I like nice clothes, I 
 must be *gay*. I mean For God's sake.. " 
 ��������"Ray, you're babbling." 
 ��������=And if you don't stop ranting like a raving homophobe 
 I'm going to hit the park brake and get out.= 
 ��������"You were no help standing there blushing like that as 
 if being referred to as my lover was just too embarrassing 
 for words, you should have done something." 
 ��������"What did you expect me to do?" 
 ��������"You could have *corrected* him, for God's sake, I was 
 half tanked with all the shots they gave me. At least I had 
 an excuse for not being able come up with a quick retort. 
 What's yours?" 
 ��������"It was partly your fault that he came to that 
 assumption, and it wasn't because you wear expensive 
 clothes." 
 ��������"Oh so why did he make it and how was it my fault?" 
 ��������"I said partly.. When you went berserk and pulled your 
 gun.. " 
 ��������"I did what?!" 
 ��������"You pulled your gun on the intern who was examining 
 you, after he turned your break into a compound fracture. 
 You pulled your gun on him and threatened to blow his head 
 off if he didn't get out of your sight and then you 
 threatened to shoot the nurse who tried to get close enough 
 to hit you with a sedative. And we heard you screaming and 
 shouting and the intern was shouting he's got a gun.. and I 
 went in and tried to get you to put it down, but.. you were 
 in shock, you saw him as a threat and you wouldn't be calmed 
 until he departed." 
 ��������"And they got another Doctor." 
 ��������"Yes. I tried to calm you down. At first you wouldn't 
 give me the gun, but you wouldn't shoot me either and I just 
 worked on reducing the level of tension, stroking your back 
 and arm.. assuring you that no one else was going to hurt 
 you until you let me take the gun." 
 ��������"And he saw that?" 
 ��������"Yes. That and how I held you till the shot took affect 
 and you went under. After you went under he shooed me out 
 and said, and I quote "Don't worry I'll take good care of 
 your S.O.." 
 ��������"Significant Other. The PC way of saying Defacto 
 especially when referring to Gay people." 
 ��������"I do know what it means." 
 ��������"So why didn't you correct him then?" 
 ��������"He was shoving me out the door and closed it in my 
 face before I could. And it was Francesca's suggestion that 
 I should let it slide." 
 ��������"Oh it was, was it?" 
 ��������"Yes, she said we could take advantage of it, because 
 the Doctor would tell me everything, and leave her free to 
 take care of your mother without having to worry about you 
 too." 
 ��������"Ah." 
 ��������-Well, that kind of makes sense. I suppose can let it 
 slide under the circumstances- 
 ��������"And that's why I didn't correct him. I was taking 
 advantage of it the same way you took advantage of it." 
 ��������Ray smiled faintly. 
 ��������"It did have its advantages." 
 ��������Fraser took his gadgets apart and took a sample of the 
 air slipping the sample into the case for that purpose and 
 tucked his bits away into the pockets. 
 ��������"By the way, I don't believe that I mentioned how much 
 I like this coat Ray." 
 ��������"If you like it so much then why haven't I seen you 
 wearing it before?" 
 ��������"Because I lost the key." 
 ��������"Key to what?" 
 ��������"The storage crate I packed the clothes into." 
 ��������"You *locked* your clothes away?" 
 ��������"Just the expensive ones you gave me."�������� 
 ��������"I thought you didn't lock anything?" 
 ��������"I have a lot of expensive and valuable things in the 
 apartment right now.. The storage company who were storing 
 all my personal effects closed down and shipped them out in 
 storage crates. Locked storage crates. I got the keys, via 
 the consulate, they sent them in a diplomatic pouch." 
 ��������"Those guys take security seriously." 
 ��������"Very." 
 ��������"So why did they close down?" 
 ��������"They're relocating. It will take some time to 
 construct new storage facilities to their high standards." 
 ��������"And you'll send all your stuff back when they do." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"I guess I'll have to make arrangements to get it 
 stored away while your.. " 
 ��������"Oh, it's already stored away, at the consulate. I did 
 that the day before yesterday. I've only got one crate now. 
 With all the things I wanted to keep with me in it." 
 ��������"Really valuable stuff?" 
 ��������"One of the parcels contains something that would be 
 worth several thousand dollars to collectors. Another item 
 would be.. " 
 ��������"You've got some sort of collectors item worth a few 
 thousand *dollars*." 
 ��������"Items.. Sheet music. Over 50 pieces of it, all of it 
 has been autographed. They were part of a reward that was 
 given to me by a musician for returning a rather unique 
 instrument that had great sentimental value to him after it 
 was stolen." 
 ��������"A famous musician?" 
 ��������"Very, his band was once listed as the highest earning 
 performers in the world in the Guiness book of records." 
 ��������Ray let out a low whistle. 
 ��������"And they have a great many fans who would be willing 
 to part with large sums of money for items autographed by 
 the whole band, which the sheet music and records were." 
 ��������"You got records too." 
 ��������"Oh, no, that was.. My Partner.. He's a fan of the 
 band, and he helped me recover that guitar without realising 
 it." 
 ��������"Oh.." 
 ��������"It was the *unique sound* of the instrument. The 
 musician built it with his own two hands with his father. 
 And my partner was always playing their music, I was 
 familiar with that particular guitar's unique sound. I knew 
 it had been stolen, the band cancelled all their concerts 
 after it happened and he dragged me all the way into the 
 capital to attend one with him.. He was in a very foul 
 temper about the cancellation." 
 ��������"And you guys volunteered to work on the case." 
 ��������"Er.. He did, but they already had people working on 
 it. I just happened to be in the right place at the right 
 time when I heard that guitar being played. I recognised the 
 tune that was being played - badly - first, and then I 
 recognised the tones of the instrument. That was the easy 
 part.. The hard part was getting it back in one piece. I 
 was injured diving for it when he hurled it away correctly 
 assuming I'd try and catch it while he made his get away." 
 ��������"So he got away with it and made you chase him." 
 ��������"He was very fast, very agile, and knew the city like 
 the back of his hand, and had it strapped over his back as 
 he leapt fences, ran across roofs and through storm water 
 drains. I think I pursued him for over 5 kilometres till he 
 realised he just wasn't going to shake me." 
 ��������"Yeah I bet he couldn't believe you kept up." 
 ��������"I almost lost him, twice, when he slipped into the 
 drains, fortunately I found two people who pointed me in the 
 right direction, and he picked up mud on his boots in the 
 drains which left enough tracks for me to start catching 
 up." 
 ��������"So did you actually catch him in the end or.. " 
 ��������"No.. Saving the guitar put me in hospital." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"We were on the roof tops.. There was an alley way 
 between us.. I could have made the jump and by that stage 
 he knew it. And I was *right* on his tail at that stage. He 
 ripped it off and told me he'd drop it and destroy it if I 
 didn't give up." 
 ��������"And you prepared to jump anyway." 
 ��������"I thought he was bluffing.. After all he was a fan, 
 and was aware of its value." 
 ��������"And you just had to announce that fact, so he dropped 
 it.. And you leapt for it." 
 ��������"Exactly, I was able to catch it.. But it was a multi-
 story building and even though I fell onto a pile of garbage 
 with it, it was quite a drop. I broke several bones when I 
 hit it. And it's quite fortunate he didn't stick around to 
 see if I managed to catch it or not.. I was out cold for 
 some time.. He could have collected it again and made good 
 his escape with the instrument." 
 ��������Then he frowned.�������� 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"That wasn't right.. He couldn't have taken it.. I 
 remember now, they complained.. Because they couldn't get 
 the guitar out of my arms.. That's right, I knew there was 
 a high degree of probability the fall would knock me out and 
 the last thing I did before I passed out was to lock my arms 
 around it.. They couldn't take the guitar away from me, not 
 without breaking my arms to do it." 
 ��������"Is that what they did?" 
 ��������"No.. They put me into the ambulance with it, and one 
 of the doctor's whispered the magic words in my ear when I 
 was semi conscious and I let go." 
 ��������"The Magic Words?" 
 ��������"He essentially made it possible to personally return 
 the guitar to the musician. Who was notified and came to the 
 hospital to collect it and the Doctor returned it to me to 
 present it to him and made sure he was there to get his 
 autograph too." 
 ��������Ray laughed. 
 ��������"Another fan." 
 ��������"Once he got his autograph he cleared the room out and 
 gave me a chance to talk to the musician who wanted to hear 
 all about how I got it back and I told him all about it, and 
 how it was my partner's birthday soon and how if it wasn't 
 an imposition.. the bands autographs would make a fine 
 gift." 
 ��������Ray laughed. 
 ��������"You could have asked for a hell of a lot more and got 
 it after what you did." 
 ��������"I did get more, we talked about other things. He 
 showed his gratitude on the day by staying there and talking 
 with me till my partner arrived." 
 ��������"So what did you talk about?" 
 ��������"Music.. Being a Mountie.. Canada.. He talked about 
 the band & music. And I got to meet him again he showed up 
 on Dante's Birthday with the Vocalist, and they gave Dante a 
 complete collection of all their records, all autographed, 
 under glass, for his birthday." 
 ��������Ray smiled. 
 ��������"He remembered what you said and tracked your partner 
 down on his birthday, just to thank-you." 
 ��������"Oh they stayed for a few days. We were stationed a 
 rather remote outpost, and our cabin was big enough to hold 
 six men. And they enjoyed a break without worrying about 
 fans for a few days before the rescheduled concerts 
 started." 
 ��������"Your partner must have been in seventh heaven." 
 ��������"He thought it was wonderful, especially watching me 
 and the guitarist play together. He always liked it when I 
 played. His jaw hit the floor when I started singing too. 
 Then he clipped my ear and said why didn't you tell me you 
 could hold a tune." 
 ��������Ray laughed. 
 ��������"I will never forget that time.. It was one of the 
 happiest weeks of my life." 
 ��������"I bet." 
 ��������"They said I had real talent. And they sent us tickets 
 to the last show, and the RCMP PR department set things up 
 with them.. And just before the Finale.. A ramp set down. 
 They announced they wanted the audience to thank the man who 
 saved the tour when he recovered the guitar. And I rode out 
 on stage in my dress reds." 
 ��������"For real."�������� 
 ��������"Yes, there was this incredible wave of sound when the 
 crowd roared as I rode onto stage.. They were clapping and 
 cheering and didn't stop as I went through the routine I 
 practiced with them all morning. I almost blew it when the 
 vocalist slipped up behind me for a circuit on the horse. 
 That was prearranged - him whispering naughty suggestions in 
 my ear while we did it wasn't." 
 ��������Ray very carefully pulled over, then gave into the 
 laughter. 
 ��������"And he took advantage of the fact I couldn't stop him 
 having a little grope or two - I almost fell off the horse." 
 ��������Ray almost wet himself with laughter. 
 ��������"Oh - stop.. " 
 ��������"I got my revenge when I made the horse rear up and 
 turn in a circle on its back legs. He had to stop groping me 
 and hold on for dear life or fall off onto that hard stage. 
 The crowd loved it. So did the PR people. They had pictures 
 of me doing that in every newspaper the next day, and a clip 
 on the news, along with the finale. When I played God Save 
 The Queen with the Guitarist on the Guitar he presented me 
 with. It was bright red, to go with my uniform." 
 ��������He reached into the bag at his feet and pulled out a 
 bottle of water and offered it to Ray as his laughter ended. 
 ��������"That *really* happened.. You're not just making it 
 up." 
 ��������"Why would I make up something like that?" 
 ��������"I don't know, to make me laugh, I've been pretty 
 grumpy lately." 
 ��������"Out of concern about your mother. I thought you were 
 exaggerating the situation till I saw the way she reacted to 
 your fall and break." 
 ��������"That was the worst she's been. By the way what were 
 doing there?" 
 ��������"I.. wanted to talk to you." 
 ��������"Oh.. yeah.. I figured there was something bothering 
 you, you were so quiet all the time, I guessed you didn't 
 want to bother me with your problems while I had a big 
 problem of my own to deal with." 
 ��������"You're right." 
 ��������"So, tell what the problem is." 
 ��������Fraser looked away. 
 ��������"Benni." 
 ��������Fraser took a deep breath. 
 ��������"I came to tell you I couldn't be your partner any 
 more." 
 ��������Ray stared at him in shock. 
 ��������"What?! They ordered you to .. " 
 ��������"No.. " 
 ��������"Then why?" 
 ��������"I.. don't think.. it's right.. " 
 ��������"What's not right?!" 
 ��������Fraser took a deep breath. 
 ��������"Dante was more than my partner he was my significant 
 other." 
 ��������That shocked Ray even more. 
 ��������"You're Gay!" 
 ��������"No.. I'm Bi." 
 ��������"And you didn't think I deserved to know it?!" 
 ��������"I don't proscribe to meaningless relationships, I only 
 form sexual relationships with people I have.. deep 
 feelings for." 
 ��������"You told me Victoria was..." 
 ��������"I didn't think you'd be comfortable if you knew." 
 ��������"What you think I'd tell you to go to hell just because 
 you're Gay?!" 
 ��������"Bi." 
 ��������"Whatever." 
 ��������"Your Catholic, your heterosexual, and you often 
 express what could be called homophobic sentiments." 
 ��������"Yeah, well... If you'd told me you were gay.." 
 ��������"Bi."�������� 
 ��������"I wouldna expressed sentiments like that around you. I 
 don't have anything against gay people personally I just 
 take offence when someone insinuates I'm gay. And if you 
 were so worried about how I'd take it, why are you telling 
 me now? What changed?" 
 ��������"You were going to find out. Everyone is. And everyone 
 is going to wonder about our partnership and that is why I 
 can't be your partner any more." 
 ��������"Who is he?! Who is this guy who told you it was him or 
 me?!" 
 ��������"He didn't make any ultimatums. He doesn't even know 
 about you. He hasn't arrived yet. I thought it would be 
 better if our partner ship dissolved before he arrived. That 
 way you wouldn't be humiliated when the news got out." 
 ��������"You're coming out of the closet with this guy." 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"I love him. I always have. But my father had him 
 exiled overseas to end our relationship." 
 ��������"This isn't some guy you've met recently. You're 
 talking about that Dante guy." 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"Now Inspector Thatcher is about to take a long leave 
 to nurse one of her parents, who's dying. She won't return 
 for some time. Dante was chosen to hold down the fort while 
 she's away. Because they want to see if he can handle the 
 position before he takes over the role permanently at the 
 consulate he's been stationed at all these years." 
 ��������Ray looked away staring out the window for a long time. 
 Fraser collected his bag from the floor and reached for his 
 seat belt. 
 ��������"If it works out - you're going to leave with him 
 aren't you.? You're going to go with him. I'm never gonna 
 see you again.." 
 ��������"No," Fraser said cutting in on what might have become 
 another round of babbling on Ray's part. 
 ��������"No?!" 
 ��������"I already know that he wouldn't ask me to go with him. 
 And he'd reject an offer by me to go with him. He did it 
 when I tried to follow him last time." 
 ��������"So what happens if he doesn't want to get involved 
 with you again? If that happens no one has to know about you 
 being Bi and we can still be partners." 
 ��������"Oh. I'm sure he'll be reluctant at first. He held me 
 at arms length for a year before he finally gave in and I 
 know how to get through all his little defenses. I'll do 
 whatever it takes.. Because it will be the last chance I 
 ever have to be with him." 
 ��������Then he opened the door. 
 ��������"Good-bye, Ray, and thank-you, for everything." 
 ��������The he slipped out of the car and walked away. 
 ��������Ray stared at nothing for a very, very long time before 
 he finally pulled out and drove to a bar where he got very 
 very drunk. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Three 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������To his dismay Ray discovered that not only had Fraser 
 cut him off, but all his friends outside the consulate were 
 cut off too. What's more it seemed that even his friends and 
 associates at the consulate had been cut off too. To all 
 intents and purposes Fraser had vanished, utterly. No one 
 seemed to know where he was. 
 ��������It took some work, but Ray finally tracked Fraser down, 
 to a medical center. He dropped in to see him dressed in 
 raw unbleached cotton draw string pants, as he resided 
 within a sterile bubble room. He wasn't allowed near him, 
 all he could do was look through the observation window to 
 watch the miserable looking Mountie sit on a pile of bedding 
 on the floor with his guitar and some sheet music. His eyes 
 were ringed with bruises that stood out against his pale 
 face. 
 ��������Ray couldn't help but notice that there was no bed or 
 furniture in the room. The bedding consisted of what looked 
 like two or three thick quilts, covered with the same raw 
 unbleached cotton as his pants, so were the sheets, though 
 the blankets on the bed were quite colourful wool blankets. 
 Not the usual sort of thing you see in a hospital. Even more 
 interesting was how the sheet music came in laminated 
 sheets. 
 ��������"He's quite good, isn't he?" Fraser's allergist said. 
 ��������Ray glanced around for a moment. 
 ��������"I'm Doctor Zacheria. The allergist in charge of his 
 case and you're .." 
 ��������"Raymond Vecchio." 
 ��������"Ah... His S.O, Doctor Weinstien told me to expect you, 
 I was starting to think you had an allergy to hospitals." 
 ��������Ray gave a weak smile. 
 ��������"How is he?" 
 ��������"We're still trying to work out what he's alergic to 
 and having a hell of a time doing it. Every time he took the 
 mask off he started sniffling, within a few minutes, he's 
 sneezing. Sometimes, he started sneezing almost as soon as 
 the mask came off." 
 ��������"I guess that makes it difficult." 
 ��������"It happens no matter where we do the tests. That's why 
 we put him in the bubble. It's reserved for people who have 
 20th century disease." 
 ��������"20th century disease?" 
 ��������"Around the globe there are people who've developed 
 allergies to synthetics and pollutants in the air. Some 
 react violently to allergens. With one exception, everything 
 in the room is 100 percent natural. The bedding is 4 layers 
 of extra thick duck down quilts sewn together, raw cotton 
 sheets, the blankets are pure wool, dyed with natural dyes, 
 like beetroot. Everything was boiled too within an inch of 
 its life in purified water, dried in a sterile environment, 
 and vacuumed before it was transferred here. We even make 
 sure his food is all natural, cooked according to the 
 guidelines for people with 20th century disease." 
 �������� "The sheet music and the guitar?" 
 �������� "The guitar is brand new, it was sterilised before we 
 let him have it. The music was laminated to stop stray 
 strands of the paper setting him off again. We thought he 
 could use a break.. He'll stay there till the bruising goes 
 down." 
 ��������"What if I wanted to go in?" 
 ��������"You can't. No one enters the chamber and no one will 
 till I'm ready to start testing him again." 
 ��������"How does he communicate with people?" 
 ��������The doctor pointed. 
 ��������"Via the intercom. Just hit the red button to 
 transmit." 
 ��������Ray looked at it, then through the glass at Fraser. 
 ��������"I'll leave you alone, to have a little privacy, do you 
 have any more questions?" 
 ��������"What if you can't work out what's causing the 
 allergy?" 
 ��������"The experts will rebuild his home and turn it into a 
 bubble house, making it absolutely sterile and he'll spend 
 the rest of his days in it." 
 ��������Ray barely suppressed a shudder at the very thought of 
 Fraser spending the rest of his days a prisoner in a sterile 
 bubble house. When he didn't ask any more questions, the 
 doctor left, giving him the promised privacy. Ray just 
 watched Fraser, listening to his music until Fraser happened 
 to glance up and see him. 
 ��������It would have been difficult to mistake Fraser's 
 reaction for anything but shock. Ray moved to switch the 
 intercom over to two way conversation mode. 
 ��������"Hi." 
 ��������"What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear.."�������� 
 ��������"People talk... And people were wondering why you up 
 and vanished. I get at least half a dozen people asking me 
 about you every day. Deif is pining for you and I don't know 
 what I'm supposed to do with him or tell people when they 
 ask about you." 
 ��������Fraser looked away. 
 ��������"And the Doc insinuated that you have 20th century 
 disease that you might have to spend the rest of your life 
 in a place like this.. What am I supposed to do about Deif? 
 Take care of him myself? Return him to the wild? though I 
 don't think it's a good idea. I never heard of junk food 
 growing on trees or roaming around in the wild and the only 
 thing that beast knows how to hunt is junk food. I swear he 
 could track a man with a snickers bar down from 20 blocks 
 away." 
 ��������His attempt to inject a little humour into things fell 
 flat, all it seemed to do was add to Fraser's misery. He 
 heard the heavy sigh Fraser let out clearly over the 
 intercom, and saw his shoulders slump. 
 ��������"I'm sorry.. Excuse me while I extract both legs from 
 my mouth, I think I put both feet in up to the hip. You 
 don't have to worry about Deif. I'll take good care of him. 
 Whatever happens." 
 ��������"Did he really say I'd have to spend the rest of my 
 life in a place like this?" Fraser asked looking up at Ray, 
 his whole body pleading with the Italian to tell him it 
 wasn't so. 
 ��������"Only if they can't work out what's setting you off, 
 but you don't have to worry about it.. That's just the worst 
 case scenario, and I did a little checking before I came. 
 You couldn't have checked yourself into a better place. 
 They'll work out what your allergic to and desensitise you. 
 Just you wait and see." 
 ��������"I've been here two weeks already, the only time I 
 don't sneeze when the filter mask comes off is when I'm shut 
 up in this room." 
 ��������"I'm sure he'll find a way around that problem and then 
 you'll get treatment, and get out of here, and come after my 
 head for letting Deif get fat on junk food and pasta." 
 ��������"You know it's bad for him." 
 ��������"Ma's already getting the hint. She's spoiling him, in 
 a way you'd approve of. She's read everything on wolves she 
 can lay hands on, talked to zoo keepers about them. Put him 
 on a diet you can't complain about, takes him for walks all 
 the time. And it's off to the park at least 3 times a day. 
 Her taking over his care has been a real godsend in some 
 ways. Instead of smothering me with attention, she's 
 smothering Deif in it and he's loving every minute of it. 
 You should see him, his coat practically glistens, she's 
 always brushing him down, and he loves it." 
 ��������"As long as she doesn't start knitting little coats, 
 bonnets and mittens for him. He finds it an affront to his 
 dignity." 
 ��������Ray chuckled. 
 ��������"Well she did get him a new collar, and a big dog 
 basket, that sits at the end of the bed. I went around to 
 your place and got your blanket from the bed and put it in 
 the basket and he settled down in it pretty fast. But I keep 
 waking up with him snuggled up at my back or over my feet. 
 It seems that he worked out how to get out of her room and 
 does it when everyone's settled down for the night. You 
 shoulda heard the shriek Frannie let out when she went down 
 to get a glass of water in the middle of the night and 
 discovered he prowls the house in the wee small hours." 
 ��������Fraser smiled faintly. 
 ��������"And last night, he dragged your blanket into my room 
 and onto the bed. Beyond that, he's been on his best 
 behaviour, he doesn't even pull that, Lip reading, what's 
 that trick of his any more. I kinda got the feeling he 
 thinks he's being punished." 
 ��������Fraser heaved a deep sigh. 
 ��������"He would. I put him on a very strict diet because he 
 was getting pudgy, and he mugged someone for their hamburger 
 just before I visited you. I gave him a very stern lecture 
 and threatened to send him back to the wild." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"But there's nothing I can do about it now. I can't go 
 near him and you'd never be permitted to bring him here." 
 ��������"I know you don't want me to come back.. And there's 
 really not much else to say. Promise me, the moment you get 
 out you'll come around and get him. And.. If you don't show 
 your face after that Dante guy goes back home.. I'm gonna 
 hunt you down and .." 
 ��������"When I said Good-bye - I meant it. I don't intend to 
 resume associating with you when Dante leaves." 
 ��������"Benni.." 
 ��������"I'll return home to Canada." 
 ��������"You think I care what people think, Fraser? I don't." 
 ��������Fraser couldn't look at him. 
 ��������"Since I put Victoria behind me.. I've found myself 
 thinking about my future.. She can never be apart of it. 
 Until I found out Dante was going to temporarily replace the 
 inspector, I didn't think about him being part of it.. There 
 were two other people.. though, who I hoped would be. The 
 inspector was one.. but she keeps giving me mixed signals 
 and I don't think it would be wise to pursue a relationship 
 with her. Or that she'd consider it while I remain her 
 subordinate. As for the other person I would never.. act on 
 my feelings because I know they wouldn't appreciate it.. So 
 it never came up..." 
 ��������"You're talking about me - I'm the other person. Aren't 
 I?" 
 ��������"I know how the church views same sex relationships, 
 and you made your opinion of them very clear." 
 ��������Ray felt like bashing his head against something hard. 
 ��������"But even though I know your views it doesn't stop me 
 from.. Finding my self wishing for your company, and it has 
 been getting harder to ignore.. I can't change you, it's not 
 your fault.. that some of the things you do turn me on." 
 ��������Ray turned bright red and Fraser rose moving toward the 
 partition. 
 ��������"And that is why I'll be going home when Dante leaves. 
 Why I don't want to associate with you any more. Good-bye, 
 Ray.." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������A month passed, during which time Ray returned to work 
 with a wolf on his heels. It felt good to be working again, 
 and gave him something to keep his mind off Fraser. He 
 buried himself in his work, clearing cases in record time, 
 getting himself into trouble. But having Deif shadowing him 
 proved to be a godsend on more than one occasion when the 
 wolf had come to his rescue. 
 ��������Then came the morning when he'd walked out of the house 
 with Deif on his heels and lost the Wolf. He'd opened the 
 Riv's door and pushed the seat back for the wolf before he 
 realised Deif hadn't followed him. He looked around to see 
 the wolf standing on the grass giving him a rather strange 
 look, then as he watched, the wolf suddenly bounded away, 
 racing down the street. 
 ��������He raced after the wolf, but Deif was faster than he 
 was, rounding the corner, bounding out of sight. By the time 
 Ray reached the corner, the wolf was out of sight. Ray raced 
 on regardless and searched high and low for the wolf till he 
 ended up sliding down a wall into a panting heap, holding 
 his side grimacing at the pain of the stich that had finally 
 ended his search for the wolf. 
 ��������When he finally caught his breath, he staggered back up 
 to his feet and trudged home, holding his side to be meet by 
 Maria who gave him what for, for scaring them by running off 
 leaving his car wide open that way and wanting to know where 
 Deif was. 
 ��������He didn't learn what inspired Deif's bolt until late 
 afternoon when his mother called him at the precinct to tell 
 him she'd found two envelopes someone had slipped under the 
 door when no one was home. 
 ��������"There was a thank-you card, with money." 
 ��������"Fraser." 
 ��������"Yes.. The other envelope was addressed to you." 
 ��������"Just put it on my dresser, I'll look at it when I get 
 home." 
 ��������"Why didn't he come to the door and collect Deifenbaker 
 in person? Why did he have to do it and thank us in stealth? 
 Did you have a fight?.. Raimondo, I asked you a question." 
 ��������Ray was tempted to confirm her guess, it would be 
 easier than telling her the truth. Instead he sighed. 
 ��������"No ma.. I'll talk to you when I get home." 
 ��������He hung up wondering how he'd explain why Fraser wasn't 
 going to be around any longer and resorted to such stealthy 
 measures to get Deif back. 
 ��������A less than subtle cough had him looking up to find a 
 curious Elaine and Huey standing by his desk. 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"Did I hear you say Fraser?" 
 ��������"Is he out of the hospital?" 
 ��������"He must be, if he got worse, Ray'd be out of here so 
 fast that he'd break the sound barrier on his way out." 
 ��������"Very funny." 
 ��������"And he's missing his furry side kick." 
 ��������"He took off this morning." 
 ��������"That's why you were late." 
 ��������"Yeah. That was my mother telling me Fraser dropped off 
 a thank-you card. So I guess Dief smelt him coming and ran 
 off to meet him." 
 ��������"He didn't say hello?" 
 ��������"Benni stopped talking to me before he went into 
 hospital." 
 ��������"Did you two have another fight?" 
 ��������Ray sighed. Once word got out about Fraser being out of 
 hospital, he was sure to be hearing that question a lot. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������3 months passed before Ray saw Fraser again, and it was 
 a sighting that left him standing stock still in the middle 
 of a park, in shock. 
 ��������His Fraser, laughing as he writhed in the playful 
 embrace of a living Adonis in a expensive designer clothing. 
 Turning in the man's embrace to kiss him, arms wrapped 
 around his neck, their passion for each other blatant and on 
 show for all to see. Deif bounded around the passionate pair 
 in excited circles until they broke it up and gave their 
 attention to him and then they moved off teasing Deif with 
 some form of junk food. 
 ��������A gentle hand on his arm snapped Ray out of it and he 
 turned to see his mother's concerned face. 
 ��������"You miss him, don't you Raimondo?" 
 ��������Ray nodded with a sigh. 
 ��������"Why don't you go after him?" 
 ��������"Ma - he's with his *lover*." 
 ��������"I noticed. Is that what you had a fight over? His 
 orientation? Is that why you don't talk to him any more? You 
 disappoint me Ray." 
 ��������"You don't care? I mean that he's.. you know.. " 
 ��������"Bisexual." 
 ��������"Yeah. The church.. " 
 ��������"Say's many things are a sin, many things that you do 
 are considered a sin, divorcing your Angie, having non 
 marital sex with various partners.. I never stopped you 
 doing it. And it's not as if you're going to have that sort 
 of relationship with him - it's very very obvious that he's 
 very much in love with that Adonis he's with." 
 ��������"Yeah.. He is.." 
 ��������"And for that you cut him off." 
 ��������"What do you think people are going to be thinking once 
 they find out about his relationship with Mr Muscles. I'll 
 tell you what they're going to be thinking, they're gonna be 
 wondering just how close we really were. They're wonder if 
 I'm Gay, if I was sleeping with him. That's what they're 
 going to be thinking." 
 ��������"What's worse, what people *might* think, or loosing 
 your best friend because you're too afraid to accept what he 
 is because of what others might think?" 
 ��������"If it was up to me, I'd say to hell with what people 
 think." 
 ��������"Then go after him, say Hi, who's your friend - show 
 him it doesn't matter to you." 
 ��������"Why don't you? It wasn't my idea. It was his and half 
 the reason Benni ended our relationship was out of worry how 
 the people around me would react to this.. If he sees you 
 can handle what he is.. He might .. change his mind." 
 ��������She looked around, as did Ray. 
 ��������"Damn too late.. They're gone." 
 ��������"Another time.. They'll come back.. Then I'll do it." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray was driving down the street, when out of nowhere 
 the Mountie steeped directly into the path of his car and 
 planted himself in middle of the road. Ray came to a 
 screeching halt less than an inch away, then Fraser strode 
 around the car, ripped the door open and climbed in. 
 ��������"Are you mad! I could have hit you!" 
 ��������"Drive.. Before you start a traffic jam." Fraser said, 
 doing up his seat belt. 
 ��������"What did you do that for?" 
 ��������"I saw your car.. I chased you for three blocks till I 
 got ahead of you. I couldn't keep chasing you till you 
 reached lights. So I made you stop." 
 ��������"Why do it in the first place?" 
 ��������"You sent your mother after me, that was a very low 
 thing to do." 
 ��������"Oh, she caught you in the park." 
 ��������"That cost me a black eye." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"Dante's a very.. Jealous man, your mother babbled on 
 about how much you miss having me around.. And he took it 
 all the wrong Ray.. We had a fight about it later." 
 ��������"And he hit you." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Leave him." 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"G-d Benni, you ought to know better." 
 ��������"I know better - that's why I told you our partnership 
 was over. I knew he'd get jealous and that it'd lead to a 
 fight. And he's got a perfect right to act that way whenever 
 he feels our relationship is threatened." 
 ��������"He doesn't have the right to hit you."�������� 
 ��������"I hit him back and then we kissed and made up.. " 
 Fraser said, a cheeky smile appearing, "Very passionately 
 that was the end of it. I know how to handle his jealous 
 snits." 
 ��������"So he's done it before." 
 ��������"I gave him good cause not to trust me once." 
 ��������"Translation." 
 ��������Fraser rubbed at his nose, then pulled the filter mask 
 off his belt, bringing it to Ray's attention as he pulled it 
 on. 
 ��������"Are you still using that? I thought they cured your 
 allergy." 
 ��������"They never found out what triggered the sneezing fits, 
 I just stopped having them. They decided it was an allergic 
 reaction to some form of pollen that was in the air at the 
 time... I don't believe that, not any more. I've had over a 
 dozen sneezing fits since I got out and I still don't know 
 what triggers them, but I do know the signs and I keep this 
 on hand to deal with them." 
 ��������"And it works?" 
 ��������"As long as I get it on before it goes from a sniffle 
 to a sneeze. The one time I misplaced it, I had a sneezing 
 fit, right in front of Dante.. That's when he stopped 
 pretending I was just another subordinate and started 
 clucking." 
 ��������"Until my mother came along and then he turned into the 
 green eyed monster." 
 ��������"He doesn't trust me very much." 
 ��������"Why? You said you gave him a good reason not to trust 
 you. What was it?" 
 ��������"We weren't official partners at first.. He was a 
 superior officer and I had a very attractive woman for my 
 partner - in the same way you and I were. She provided an 
 excellent cover for our relationship everyone thought she 
 and I were partners of a different kind." 
 ��������"And he got in a snit about it." 
 ��������"He came home and caught me in bed with her." 
 ��������"Fraser!" 
 ��������"It was the only time I ever slept with her." 
 ��������"You know I never figured you for the cheating type." 
 ��������"I wasn't cheating on him.. It just..happened, well, 
 I'm sure she planned for things to end that way, but I 
 certainly didn't expect her to pounce.. and er... Dante and 
 I never made the fact our relationship was less than 
 platonic known to others.. and it's a very long story." 
 ��������"Oh I'm sure it is." 
 ��������"She was like Irene." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"Her brother was a crime lord. I didn't know it till 
 that night. I was always trying to recruit her.. I thought 
 she'd make a brilliant mountie. She always rejected the 
 suggestion.. That was the night I found out why.. She was 
 caught between two worlds. The world she wanted, and his 
 world.. " 
 ��������"Was she part of his syndicate?" 
 ��������He sighed and nodded. 
 ��������"But not.. actively.. When she refused to stop seeing 
 and working with me, he *used* it to his own advantage.. 
 Together we wiped out most of his competition - she lead me 
 to them, to catch them in the act, and I'd arrest them. He 
 gave her the information.. As long as I was useful to him 
 in some way he didn't try to stop her being with me. But 
 then, she over heard.. something she was not meant too. It 
 seems.. we did the unforgivable, we inadvertently busted 
 one of his operations up. He didn't discuss his operations 
 with her and she didn't know about that one or she would 
 have kept me well clear of it.. As she had others she was 
 aware of." 
 ��������"So.. she did know what he was up to?" 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"She told me things.. . So many things.. We talked.. 
 all day.. Well, actually. She talked, I just listened.. 
 Shocked to the core." 
 ��������"And then you went to bed with her." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Sometimes I question your sanity." 
 ��������"The information she gave me that day could have put 
 her brother and his syndicate away for the rest of their 
 sorry lives.. .She warned me about his revenge.. How he was 
 setting the both of us up - along with his last enemy.. To 
 take care of us all in one fell swoop.. How she was going 
 back to get enough evidence to turn the tables on him.. The 
 evidence to pin all the things she'd told me about on him. 
 And I asked why she was doing it.. She could have just 
 disappeared and saved herself.. And she hit me we something 
 and said I was so thick.. The next thing.. well.. She 
 uh..*showed* me why she did it." 
 ��������"Uh-hu.. She's right, sometimes you can be quite 
 thick." 
 ��������Fraser smiled faintly. 
 ��������"I might have been a fool not to see it earlier.. But 
 I was smart enough to realise that.. what she knew would be 
 worth to the Justice Department. She was going to get the 
 evidence and I was going to use it make a deal with them in 
 return for her evidence and testimony to put the worst of 
 her brothers syndicate away." 
 ��������"And you blew it." 
 ��������"I.. couldn't tell Dante.. The mood he was in he would 
 have arrested her on the spot.. And I realised that if we 
 were ever to.. get past that.. unintentional betrayal.. . I 
 couldn't be involved.. I tracked my father down and dumped 
 it in his lap. And by the time I got back.. The trap had 
 snapped shut around me.. I was home five minutes.. Just 
 enough time to find Dante's note.. Telling me he'd gone.. 
 and why.. When the door was kicked in and I was dragged out 
 in cuffs under arrest.. I found out she.. vanished .. 
 That no one had seen her.. since the day she came to me. 
 Which made no sense, because it took me over a month to 
 catch up with my father and almost another to return.. " 
 ��������"She got caught.. " 
 ��������"They killed her.. I apparently learned that fact in 
 prison." 
 ��������"Prison?! They sent you to prison?!" 
 ��������"I was framed and set up by a master and sent to prison 
 and it took three months for my Father and Dante working 
 together to get me out." 
 ��������Ray pulled over due to the fact that the turn the 
 conversation had taken was making it dangerous to stay on 
 the road.. 
 ��������"You spent three months in prison?!" 
 ��������"Most of it in solitary confinement and the infirmary." 
 ��������"I don't think I want to know why." 
 ��������"I was.. pack raped by a group of men who were sent 
 there as a result of both my father and I arresting them." 
 ��������"G-d Benni." 
 ��������"It happened the day I arrived.. I should have been 
 segregated.. I wasn't until after it happened.. I was sent 
 from the infirmary to solitary.. and back to the infirmary 
 after I became catatonic.. I don't.. remember any of it.. 
 Though.. I did.. discuss it.. under hypnosis once. Dante 
 wanted to get the names of the men.. who raped me to follow 
 it up." 
 ��������"So you don't remember a single thing about it?" 
 ��������"It was.. the only way I could deal with an extremely 
 traumatic situation. Block it out entirely. Even then.. I 
 was a nervous wreck for months. Dante took me to his new 
 post and helped me to recover.. To regain my shattered 
 confidence.. That was when he became my official partner. 
 It took.. a year for our relationship to.. begin again.. 
 but it was never the same.. and even now.. there are 
 certain things he just won't do.. out of fear of how I'll 
 react. That's why he rejected me after my father got him 
 exiled." 
 ��������"He thinks it'd remind you of what happened in the 
 prison?" 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"He didn't *know* though he suspected it at first. I 
 think I said or did something in my sleep.. That's when 
 Dante arranged for me to be hypnotised and it all came out, 
 during the hypnosis session. Including the fact she was 
 dead. Her body has never been found and I never knew.. 
 exactly who killed her, or who took great delight in 
 informing me of the fact. It was .. then.. that I lost all 
 hope.. And became catatonic.. Gaining my freedom hinged on 
 my father making contact with her and getting the evidence 
 from her.. Protecting her till they were brought to trial." 
 ��������"Or so you thought. He and Dante seemed to have done it 
 without her." 
 ��������"I don't know how they did it. I asked, they always 
 said, don't ask. I gather..it involved some less than legal 
 actions on Dante's part. That's how my father eventually got 
 Dante exiled, by reporting exactly how Dante got some of 
 that evidence.." 
 ��������"Lovely, the man got you out, helps you rebuild your 
 life and career and your father shows his gratitude for the 
 help by messing up your relationship." 
 ��������Fraser's father popped up, leaning on the back of the 
 seats. 
 ��������"I already admitted that it might have been a mistake 
 to act without getting the story from you first." 
 ��������"It wasn't because of our relationship, though he was 
 less than pleased about it. It was all due to a 
 misunderstanding." 
 ��������"The sort that involved bruises Dante gave you, I bet." 
 ��������"Well yes.. Dante was teaching me self defence. I 
 didn't take it seriously, till he changed his strategy, 
 sometimes he didn't pull his blows, or I'd forget how to 
 take a fall safely and I'd end up covered with bruises. 
 Someone, I don't know who started spreading rumours that I 
 got my bruises another way, my father didn't bother talking 
 to me to find out the whole story, he just reacted." 
 ��������"But you worked things out with him, didn't you?" 
 ��������"It took three years. I wanted nothing to do with him 
 after I found out who had Dante exiled. Then one night we 
 ended up in the same bar when a fight broke out, and he saw 
 me defend myself in a way he'd never seen me do it before - 
 but he was familiar with that particular style of fighting. 
 He worked out that Dante had been teaching me self defence, 
 made a few enquires, realised he made a mistake and 
 apologised for it. In his own way." 
 ��������"Uh-hu." 
 ��������"He needed Buck's help to do it.. Because I refused to 
 have any dealings with him.." 
 ��������"I'm not surprised." 
 ��������"Why don't you tell him how we did it? That'd give him 
 a real laugh." 
 ��������"And it's.. quite a funny story." 
 ��������"Yeah.. Well, I really don't have the time for it. I 
 should'na stopped for you in the first place, I'm working on 
 an important murder case, and I gotta explain all the 
 expenses I've racked up trying to get somewhere on it. Welsh 
 is gonna kill me for being late as it is. If I'm lucky the 
 leads I got today will get me off the hook.. But if I don't 
 get there soon, he isn't going to give me the chance to 
 justify things. He's just gonna tear strips offa me." 
 ��������Fraser unbuckled. 
 ��������"I just wanted to tell you - to stay away and keep your 
 emissaries away. I don't need the aggravation sending them 
 causes." 
 ��������"Beating, the word is beating, not aggravation," Fraser 
 Snr said. 
 ��������"It won't happen again.. Just give me your word you'll 
 let me know when he leaves. I miss having you around, 
 irritating the hell out of me and I really don't give a damn 
 what anyone thinks. Or what *you* might be thinking at any 
 given time. You are what you are and I won't hold it against 
 you." 
 ��������"I still think that.." 
 ��������Ray's hand flew to his belt buckle, unclipping it and 
 Fraser suddenly found his filter mask tugged down, and Ray's 
 lips on his. His eyes almost bugged out of his head, and he 
 stiffened for a time before his body betrayed him and he 
 found himself wrapping a hand around the back of Ray's 
 skull, kissing Ray back, a little hesitantly at first then 
 with increasing passion. 
 ��������It was Ray who broke it up, pulling away gasping for 
 breath to look at Fraser wide eyed. Fraser snapped the mask 
 back into place as he felt the overwhelming urge to sneeze. 
 ��������"Well, well, that was a real surprise," Fraser Snr 
 drawled. 
 ��������"When he leaves, you call me," Ray said when he caught 
 his breath. 
 ��������"I.. I.. D.. Does that mean..???" 
 ��������"I dunno what it means, I just.. Felt like doing that, 
 O.K. It doesn't mean I wanna go to bed with you.. I just.. 
 Want you to know.. I don't.. find the idea of you wishing 
 that I would, go to bed with you, totally repugnant." 
 ��������The look Fraser gave him was hot enough to set off a 
 heat sensitive fire alarm. 
 ��������"Get out of the car before you make a fool out of 
 yourself, Benton." His father ordered. 
 ��������"I don't want to loose the best friend I ever had, O.K. 
 I ain't gonna sleep with you.. Just so long as you can 
 accept that, then I can accept that you're attracted to me." 
 ��������Fraser nodded and climbed out. 
 ��������"I'll call you." 
 ��������Then he closed the door and walked away. 
 ��������=Perhaps sooner than you think= Fraser thought. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Four 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������Fraser sat in the park watching birds pecking at the 
 grass and strutting their stuff in mating dances. Well he 
 wasn't really watching them, he just appeared to be 
 extremely interested in their avian activities, his thoughts 
 though were elsewhere. To be accurate his thoughts were on 
 Ray and what happened in the car, and he contradiction 
 between Ray's action and his words and also on Dante. 
 ��������To be perfectly honest he had once thought he was in 
 love with Dante, now he wasn't sure. He'd been young, 
 inexperienced with a bad case of Hero worship and rampaging 
 hormones. Now he was older and wiser, he knew what love was, 
 Victoria taught him that. Love was more than the desire to 
 share your body with someone, it was caring, it was a 
 desperate yearning to be with the one you loved, in more 
 than the physical sense. 
 ��������He was happy with Dante, their relationship was better 
 than it had been, Dante no longer tried to hide the fact 
 they had a relationship. He wasn't afraid to show the world 
 they had a relationship, he treated him like an equal, 
 instead of someone who had to be nurtured and clucked over. 
 Oh, he still clucked occasionally. But there was also a side 
 to him that disturbed Fraser, while he'd learned to handle 
 Dante's occasional jealous snit, and enjoyed the making up 
 part of the process, Dante's anger scared him. 
 ��������He remembered how some of his self defence lessons had 
 come during times when Dante had been seething over some 
 woman flirting with him. Not that he ever responded to their 
 advances. At those times, Dante didn't pull his blows, 
 they'd come hard and fast, delivering pain, leaving livid 
 bruises. On the other hand, he hadn't really taken Dante's 
 lessons seriously until Dante stopped pulling his blows. 
 ��������He'd learned his lessons well, learning how to block, 
 avoid and defend himself against such blows. But now Dante 
 didn't have a way of venting his anger over perceived 
 betrayals. At least when they were working out together, 
 even if he'd blocked and avoided every blow, Dante had still 
 been able to vent in the attempt to land a blow or two, and 
 lessons that started out with a scowl often ended with a 
 smile, and praise for his improvements. 
 ��������Now, Dante just exploded. He wondered how Dante would 
 react if he knew about his meeting with Ray. Well, he didn't 
 have to wonder, he knew Dante would explode, but how would 
 he react if he knew Ray had kissed him, that he'd returned 
 that kiss and wished it would never end. 
 ��������The answer was that he would probably resort to 
 physical violence and that was something Fraser didn't want 
 to think about it and so his thoughts turned to what 
 happened with Ray again instead. 
 ��������Ray's actions said one thing, while he said something 
 completely different. And it wasn't just happened in the 
 hear and *now*, the same thing had happened in the past. 
 There were times he could have sworn Ray was attracted to 
 him. Like the day he'd broken his wrist. 
 ��������For a brief moment while he'd been holding Ray he could 
 have sworn he'd felt the tell tale evidence that his touch 
 had turned Ray on. But the pain, and worry for his mother no 
 doubt had dealt with that. But there were other times, Ray 
 was a natural touchie feelie kind of guy, but before he'd 
 ended his association with him, Ray had seemed to be 
 touching him all the time. An arm draped over his shoulder 
 here, a hand on his arm, standing close enough that Fraser 
 could feel the heat of his body, feel his breath against his 
 skin and smell the scents of the various toiletries Ray 
 wore. 
 ��������Those were the times Fraser found himself thinking of 
 home, particularly the long cold winters, the ice, snow and 
 winds with high chill factors. Because Ray made his pulse 
 race and his temperature rise when he invaded his personal 
 space in that special way of his. And all those times Ray 
 had ended up grubby and stripped in front of him, to shower, 
 without a second thought. He always ended up turning down 
 the offer to go in after him because he knew that Ray 
 wouldn't think twice about staying around, tending to all 
 those other things one did in bathrooms. If he'd stripped in 
 front of Ray, the Italiao-American wouldn't have remained 
 ignorant about where his tastes lay for long. 
 ��������But Ray had said he wasn't interested in the sort of 
 relationship he was. Oh, on an unconscious level, Ray might 
 find him attractive, but he obviously had no conscious 
 desire to purse anything but friendship. And after that 
 kiss, well.. Perhaps leaving was the right thing to do. 
 ��������But leaving lead to the possibility of spending the 
 rest of his life alone. He knew that, and once he could 
 possibly have accepted it. He'd gotten used to being alone. 
 Then Ray had come along. Worse, Dante had reminded him how 
 good it felt to be in a steady intimate sexual relationship. 
 ��������Fraser sighed, his thoughts going around in circles. He 
 wanted Ray, but he couldn't have Ray. He had Dante, but the 
 only thing that relationship had going for it was passion. 
 The sex was great, but there was nothing else to it. But 
 then again, he'd been so sure that it would end when Dante 
 left that he never really tried to make anything else out of 
 it. Which meant he had no one but himself to blame for it. 
 ��������Perhaps what he needed to do was stop pining over a man 
 he couldn't have, and work to improve the relationship with 
 the man he had. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Welsh was about to bite into the sandwich Vecchio's 
 late arrival had given him time to prepare, but interrupted 
 the eating of, when he clearly heard a loud wail from 
 outside the building. A wail that sounded like it came from 
 Vecchio. He set the sandwich down and moved to his window 
 opening it to look down at the street below. 
 ��������There he saw Vecchio by his car, being rapidly 
 surrounded by people. The Italiao-American looked like he 
 was about to hyperventilate. Someone asked him a question 
 and he started pointing and gesturing at his car in a highly 
 agitated state. 
 ��������Welsh left the office and hurried down to the street 
 level moving around the crowd onto the road intending to 
 circle around the car. He stopped dead on the road staring 
 at the side of Ray's car. Both tires that he could see had 
 been slashed and someone had taken a sharp implement to the 
 paint work and most likely a boot to the body. It was full 
 of dents and scored clear through to the metal with deep 
 grooves. 
 ��������That was more than enough to catch attention but what 
 really grabbed and held Welsh's attention was the fact that 
 there was more than dents and deep grooves in the paint 
 work, there was also a message carved into the side of the 
 car's fender. He shuffled along and squatted down, pulling 
 out his note book and wrote it down. 
 ��������Once he had it down, word for word, he moved around the 
 car and shouldered his way to Ray's side. The damage to the 
 other side of the car was no where near as extensive as the 
 other, there was just one big deep groove. He dispatched 
 everyone hovering around and then showed Ray the message 
 he'd found. 
 ��������"Mean anything to you?" 
 ��������Ray took the note pad and looked at it. It was a 
 message in Italian. 
 ��������"Where did you..?" 
 ��������"What does it say?" 
 ��������"Next time it'll be your face, faggot." 
 ��������Welsh wrote that down. 
 ��������"Take a deep breath, Vecchio, good, now take another 
 one.. That's it now count to a hundred." 
 ��������"A hundred?" 
 ��������"A hundred, and take a deep breath every ten seconds. 
 ��������"I'm calm already where did you get that?" He asked 
 then turned and peered at and through the windows. 
 ��������It wasn't written on any of the car's windows. He 
 looked at the trunk and hood. Nothing there. Ray raced 
 around the car and stopped dead in the middle of the road. 
 He turned white, then red and looked ready to explode. Then 
 he surprised Welsh by taking a deep breath, moving back 
 around the car, muttering, "99.. 98.. 97.. 96.. 95.." and so 
 on under his breath and walked to the stairs where he sat 
 down and continued counting and deep breathing with his 
 hands clenched into fists. His hands clenched and 
 unclenched, those long fingers unfurling and curling back up 
 into a fist. 
 ��������When he reached one, he started counting back the other 
 way. Welsh climbed the steps and called for another officer 
 and pulled out his note pad writing a note. Ripping it away 
 he handed it to the officer and dispatched it before he 
 moved to sit near Ray and watch him. 
 ��������Ray reached a hundred and kept going. He was nearing 
 590 when one of the forensic teams descend on the car with 
 their kit and started snapping photos and dusting it down 
 for prints. Somewhere around 1005 Ray jumped up to his feet 
 and stomped into and through the building, Welsh hot on his 
 tail. 
 ��������Ray's first stop was the first available phone he could 
 find. He called the consulate to ask if Fraser had returned 
 that afternoon. Welsh could tell that Ray didn't like the 
 answer. His response to it was to start ringing hospitals 
 and medical centers. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Dante returned to his apartment, to find the lights 
 down low and the table set with candles. In fact there were 
 candles just about everywhere. He stomped through the lounge 
 and dinning area blowing out candles. When Fraser stepped 
 into the room, the smile of welcome on his face vanished, 
 and the Mountie felt the urge to duck back out of the room 
 and try to leave the apartment. By the looks of things Dante 
 was in a foul mood. 
 ��������But the masochist in Fraser (what you haven't seen 
 Victoria's Secret) made him stay where he was, to watch the 
 seething man approach. He prepared to block or avoid a blow, 
 but Dante surprised him. 
 ��������"Where were you this afternoon?" 
 ��������"I..uh.." 
 ��������"Do you think that because we have a personal 
 relationship that it gives a licence to do as you will?" 
 ��������"No.. I.. " 
 ��������"Can spend the next week on Sentry duty." 
 ��������=All I'll do is get Turnbull into trouble if I mention 
 that I did call the consulate and leave a message that I 
 wasn't returning= 
 ��������Dante stomped off and Fraser relaxed. 
 ��������"And get rid of the candles, don't you know they're a 
 fire hazard." 
 ��������Fraser started collecting the candles, thinking so much 
 for trying to inject a little romance into their 
 relationship. 
 ��������"And get your damned wolf off the bed, he's shedding." 
 ��������Fraser sighed and his breath caught as he heard 
 something crash, and dropped the collected candles on the 
 table and rushed out into the hall. Deifenbaker bounded out 
 of the bedroom and down the hall to the lounge. Fraser 
 watched him disappear, then moved onto the bedroom, peering 
 around the door way. Dante sat on the edge of the bed by the 
 bedside table. The cut glass lamp that usually sat on that 
 bedside table lay on the floor in a hundred one pieces. 
 Dante on his part was holding his head, his finger's 
 massaging his temples and staring at the debris. Fraser 
 noticed a vein pounding away in a base relief on his temples 
 and quietly backed off. Perhaps taking Deifenbaker for a 
 walk, a long walk, would be a good idea. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray drove through the streets at high speed ignoring 
 half the road rules and narrowly avoided two collisions 
 speeding through intersections as he headed for the 
 hospital. He brought the car to a rubber burning stop, his 
 foot jamming down on the brake. When the car came to a 
 complete stop, he spun in the seat, looking back down the 
 street. 
 ��������When his brain registered the fact his eyes hadn't 
 deceived him, he parked the car, jumping out to call out to 
 the man walking with the white wolf a block away. When the 
 man stopped, turning to look back. Ray slammed the car door 
 closed and marched off down the street. 
 ��������Fraser stood under the street light with Deif sitting 
 at his heels tail thumping the pavement as they watched Ray 
 stalk up the street. The moment the cop reached them his 
 hands slammed into Fraser's chest, sending him staggering 
 back two or three steps. 
 ��������"Where have you been all afternoon?!" Ray yelled at 
 him.�������� 
 ��������Deif growled moving between him and the Mountie. 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������Ray spun with an angry follow me gesture stalking back 
 up the street. Fraser followed him, rubbing at his chest as 
 he went. He was sure he was going to have two bruises in the 
 form of Ray's hands on his chest the next day such was the 
 force of Ray's angry move. 
 ��������He watched the angry man move around the side of the 
 car and rip away a sheet of plastic that was taped down over 
 the side rear fender. As he moved around the side of the 
 car, he saw the length of the car was covered with plastic 
 sheets and tape. When he looked at the uncovered section he 
 saw why. The deep grooves in the paint work were clearly 
 evident even in the dwindling light, and so were the words 
 carved into the side of the car. 
 ��������He looked to Ray. 
 ��������"What does it say?" 
 ��������"Next time it's your face, Faggot." 
 ��������Fraser's eyes widened. 
 ��������"Someone did that to my car after I saw you.. I was in 
 the station house for maybe.. half an hour, forty five 
 minutes. They slashed up the tyres on this side, along with 
 the paint work and.." 
 ��������He ripped off another sheet of plastic on the door to 
 show the deep dents there. 
 ��������"Put the boot in. And after I saw that message, I was 
 worried about your safety. I tried tracking you down, but 
 you didn't go back to the consulate.. They told me the 
 Inspector went looking for you when you didn't turn up and 
 came back in a foul mood.." 
 ��������"He put me on Sentry duty for a week for it." 
 ��������"That's all?" 
 ��������"I was expected quite a different reaction.. He *is* in 
 a foul mood. That's why I decided to take Deif for a walk. 
 To give him a chance to cool down." 
 ��������Ray taped the sheets back in place. 
 ��������"Get in." 
 ��������"I.." 
 ��������"You got something better to do?" 
 ��������After a few moments Fraser moved around the car and Ray 
 climbed in, leaning across the car to open the door for 
 Fraser. He sat back watching Fraser push the seat forward 
 for Deifenbaker and watched the Wolf leap in to settle down 
 on the back seat with a happy look on his furry face. Fraser 
 pushed the seat back up and climbed in, belting up as Ray 
 started the Riv. 
 ��������"I was heading for the hospital when I saw you, they've 
 got a John Doe in who fits your general description. Someone 
 beat him up bad and took a knife to him." 
 ��������"You thought it was me." 
 ��������Ray nodded as he turned to look over the street before 
 he pulled away from the curb. 
 ��������"What was I supposed to think after finding that 
 message gouged into the side of the car when everyone I 
 calls says they haven't seen you?" 
 ��������"I went to the park.. To think.. Until it started 
 raining, I didn't realise how much time had passed. And I 
 was soaked through before I got to shelter so I went home to 
 change into dry clothes." 
 ��������"Home being his place now?" 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"I didn't see the point in returning to the consulate 
 at that time.. I rang in and asked Turnbull to pass a 
 message on.." 
 ��������"Well it wasn't Turnbull I spoke too. He probably 
 forgot to pass the message on." 
 ��������"Oh, no.. He's become incredibly efficient since Dante 
 took over." 
 ��������"He has?" 
 ��������"Ever since he made a mistake that infuriated Dante. He 
 called Turnbull in. I could hear him, yelling at him, and 
 when it was over Turnbull scuttled out as white as a sheet 
 and Dante needed a new desk because he broke the one he had 
 in two." 
 ��������"Now that would be intimidating." 
 ��������"I saw him break a pool table in two once." 
 ��������"Now that's impressive." 
 ��������"I'm sure the fact it was infested with termites 
 helped." 
 ��������Ray chuckled at that. 
 ��������"But I was talking about Turnbull.. He tries to avoid 
 Dante whenever possible, that means double and triple 
 checking everything he does to make sure he hasn't made any 
 mistakes.. And he passes messages on to me to pass on to 
 Dante, or if I'm not around, he drops notes on Dante's desk 
 when he's out of the room rather than personally delivering 
 the messages." 
 ��������"I bet that irritates Dante." 
 ��������"Sometimes. I'll have to remember to leave early and 
 remove the note from his desk before he sees it." 
 ��������"Do you mind if I ask.. a personal question? I've seen 
 Dante.." 
 ��������"You have?" 
 ��������"In the park with you.. Ma called Him Adonis, the name 
 fits.. He must make women drool where ever he goes." 
 ��������"They tend to walk into things because they're so busy 
 watching him that they're not watching where they're going." 
 ��������"I can understand you finding him attractive.. If I 
 shared your tastes, I'd find him attractive." 
 ��������"What is the question?" 
 ��������"Why me? I mean that *God* puts me in the shade." 
 ��������Fraser opened his mouth to answer, and felt the tickle 
 in his nose that was the precursor to a sneeze and 
 automatically reached for his filter mask. He only 
 remembered that he'd left it behind in the bedroom when he 
 didn't find it attached to his belt. 
 ��������"Stop the car!" 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������Fraser grabbed at his nose, pinching it as that tickle 
 became the full blown urge to sneeze. 
 ��������"Stop the car, now!" 
 ��������Ray stopped the car and Fraser fumbled with the belt 
 while fighting the urge to sneeze. Ray reached across to 
 unclip his belt. Fraser threw the door open and jumped out 
 loosing the battle and sneezed. 
 ��������Ray sighed. 
 ��������Fraser wound the window down and closed the door before 
 he moved to the foot path. Ray parked the car while Fraser 
 let out another sneeze or two. Climbing out he leaned on the 
 roof and looked at Fraser as Fraser pinched his nose and 
 drew in deep breaths through his mouth. There were no more 
 sneezes. 
 ��������"Where's your mask?" 
 ��������"I left it behind.. In the bedroom after I got 
 changed.. That's where Dante was.." 
 ��������"Are you through sneezing now?" 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"I think so." 
 ��������Ray looked around. 
 ��������"It's a valid question that you asked.. It's one of 
 things I was thinking about today." 
 ��������"Oh.. Well, do you think you can get back into the car 
 before you answer it." 
 ��������"I don't think so." 
 ��������Rays hand slipped under his coat, snaking around to 
 pull out his gun as he kept an eye on the group of toughs 
 who were heading their way. He kept the gun out of sight, 
 preferring to avoid a confrontation. 
 ��������"This isn't the best place to have a conversation, 
 Fraser." 
 ��������"Something in your car keeps setting me off, I don't 
 have my filter, if I get back into your car I could have a 
 violent sneezing fit." 
 ��������"Yeah, well.." 
 ��������He watched one of those toughs, flicking a knife open 
 there was no doubt in his mind they saw them as easy prey. 
 ��������"You're gonna have a lot more than that to worry about 
 if you don't get in the car now, Benni," he said with a jerk 
 of his head. 
 ��������Fraser looked around, and saw the group moving in. This 
 time he didn't argue the point. He and Ray both climbed into 
 the car. Ray didn't wait for him to belt up, he swung the 
 car into a tight u-turn and sped away. Fraser looked back 
 and winced when he saw one of the group hurl a bottle that 
 hit the center of the back window with an unerring accuracy 
 that was frightening. He winced as the window fractured. 
 ��������"Great, just great.. What else can happen to my car 
 today?" Ray asked looking around. 
 ��������Fraser looked around in time to see the car enter an 
 intersection at the same time as a car coming from the 
 right. One hand flew to the dash while the other ripped the 
 seat belt over his body. 
 ��������"Look out!" 
 ��������His warning came too late. No sooner had he clipped the 
 belt into place than Ray's desperate attempt to avoid the 
 imminent crash failed. He spun the wheel hard to the left 
 and the screech of brakes was followed by the impact of the 
 car that had been crossing colliding with them. Fraser's cry 
 rang through the car as pain swept over him coming from 
 three different places at once. The view of the world 
 outside blurred and swung crazily as the car tilted onto two 
 tyres and wavered there for a few sickening moments then the 
 car which collided with them was reversing and jamming on 
 the park break. Door's opened and slammed and as the car 
 rocked, and started to tip, then the occupants of the other 
 car, were there jumping up and grabbing at the back of the 
 car and the handle of the door. The extra weight tipped the 
 balance and the Riv slammed back down on all four tyres and 
 shuddered. Totally white faced with shock Fraser looked 
 around and almost cried out in pain again as he turned his 
 head sending pain lancing through him. 
 ��������His view of the world swam in and out of focus. He 
 heard whimpering from Deif in the back of the car, saw Ray 
 slumped against the door, at an awkward angle as if he'd 
 flopped there, and he probably had. He was out cold, his 
 clothes covered in sliver's of glass and blood ran down his 
 face, his breathing harsh and laboured. As he focused on Ray 
 the trickle of blood down his face ended as Ray lost his 
 battle to breathe. Fraser's arm rose and he tried to reach 
 out toward him but the move caused him so much pain he 
 aborted it. And watched a stranger lean on the side of the 
 car to look through the now non existent window. 
 ��������"Help him," he said weakly, wrapping his arms around 
 his own ribs at the pain it brought him. 
 ��������He watched the stranger reach out to touch Ray's face 
 then his throat. 
 ��������Fraser became aware of a hand on his shoulder and a 
 voice asking him questions, and cried out as pain lanced 
 through his shoulder and neck. The world spun and then the 
 pain and consciousness faded away. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Five 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������Fraser sat propped up in his bed, his neck encased in a 
 brace his arm in a sling, a plaster cast that ran from 
 shoulder to wrist, and down to his waist and covered in 
 signatures, lip stick marks and commentary. He smiled weakly 
 when he saw Dante's head poke around the door frame to his 
 private room. Seeing that Fraser was awake Dante smiled and 
 slipped into the room to cross to Fraser's bedside. 
 ��������"How are you feeling?" 
 ��������Fraser tried to speak but his mouth was so dry that all 
 that came out was a croak. Dante looked around then poured 
 him a glass of water, popped a bendy straw from the 
 collection on the tray and held it up to Fraser's mouth. 
 Fraser drank giving him a grateful look. 
 ��������"Better?" He asked as he lowered the half empty glass. 
 ��������"Much." 
 ��������"Do you know how long you've been here?" 
 ��������"Several days." 
 ��������"Four. Every time I came in you were either sedated or 
 sleeping. It gave me a lot of time to think." 
 ��������"About what?" 
 ��������"You - *us*." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������=Here it comes.. The I love you but I don't think we 
 should see each other any more speech= 
 ��������"And I kept thinking *why*.. It's insane.. You know all 
 my bad habits, about my temper and jealousy.. But you still 
 wanted to pursue the relationship." 
 ��������Fraser watched Dante pull a walkman out of one of his 
 jackets deep pockets. 
 ��������"I heard this.. On the radio.. And it.. Summed up how I 
 felt." 
 ��������He hit play and watched Fraser. 
 �������� 
 Baby I've been watching you�������� 
 (Baby I've been watching you) 
 watching everything you do 
 And I just can't help but feeling 
 someone else is stealing you away from me 
 
 ��������Fraser's eyes widened. 
 
 I see it written in your eyes 
 and you confirm it with your lies 
 though the web you weave can hold me 
 I would rather that you told me 
 where you want to be 
 
 ��������He hit stop. 
 ��������"So tell me.. Am I just being a paranoid and possessive 
 jerk again, or is there someone else you'd rather be with." 
 ��������=Ray= 
 ��������"Because I don't know what to think any more.. I 
 thought you just decided to take Deif for a walk to give me 
 a chance to cool down.. But you didn't come back.. And then, 
 I get a call from the consulate.. Telling me you were 
 involved in a car accident. And when I get hold of the 
 accident report.. I find out it's the car of one Raymond 
 Vecchio.. And that was the name of the guy who's mother 
 pounced in the park.. And you told me there was nothing 
 going on there, that you hadn't even seen him in months." 
 ��������"You've seen the accident report?! You know what 
 happened to him!" 
 ��������Dante bit his lip and looked away. 
 ��������"Dante.. If you know something tell me. I keep asking 
 and no body is giving me answers.." 
 ��������"I'm sorry...." 
 ��������=Nooo Don't say you're sorry.. Don't tell me he's 
 dead.= 
 ��������"He suffered massive chest injuries..and went into 
 cardiac arrest on the scene." 
 ��������Fraser stared into nothingness. 
 ��������"The crash report says he wasn't wearing a seat beat.. 
 If he had been, it might have been a different story." 
 ��������=If only I'd gotten back into the car sooner he would 
 have had time to belt up.. He'd still be alive.= 
 ��������Fraser felt Dante's hand stroking his arm heard him 
 speaking but all he could think about was Ray until part of 
 what Dante had to say sank in. 
 ��������=He's leaving *now*!= 
 ��������He looked at Dante. 
 ��������=And I really don't have a choice now that Thatcher is 
 back.. For some reason that woman doesn't like me.. Within 5 
 minutes she had all my things packed and literally tossed 
 out into the street, by Turnbull. Who I'm sure enjoyed being 
 given that little task." 
 ��������Dante stopped talking and started clucking, pulling a 
 handkerchief out from a pocket to wipe at Fraser's face as 
 tears ran down it with no conscious violation on Fraser's 
 part. His hand flew up to catch Dante's. 
 ��������"Don't go." 
 ��������"I'm not going anywhere.. I'll stay as long as you want 
 me to." 
 ��������"Forever." 
 ��������Dante just stared at him for what seemed the time 
 period in question. 
 ��������"I can't stay *here* in the states.. I have to go back 
 home."�������� 
 ��������"Australia." 
 ��������Dante looked around and stuck out his leg to drag the 
 chair close enough to sit on it. 
 ��������"It's not as bad as some people might lead you to 
 believe.. It's true that the heat in summer can be 
 incredible, but that's why God invented air-conditioners." 
 ��������Fraser gave a weak tremulous smile. 
 ��������"It's a glorious country and I've managed to visit 
 every state over the years.. I'd love to show it to you. I 
 used to hold the same post you have here at my consulate.. 
 Now I've been promoted.. My old post is still up for grabs.. 
 You could come with me.. As more than just my S.O. And you 
 wouldn't be stuck behind a desk shuffling papers all day, 
 s'cept in summer, when you'll be happy to do just that." 
 ��������"You..want me.. to.. go back with you?" 
 ��������"You could make me the second happiest man on Earth if 
 you'll say you will." 
 ��������"Only the second happiest? Who's the happiest man on 
 Earth?" 
 ��������"The one who won the 157,000,000 dollar jackpot in the 
 lottery yesterday." 
 ��������Fraser gave another tremulous smile, then broke down 
 again. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Have you ever seen one of those cartoons, where the 
 character turns red, their eyes bug out and steam starts to 
 spout from their ears? Well, at that particular time, 
 Turnbull thought Inspector Meg Thatcher was doing a rather 
 good impression of one of those characters as she faced 
 Inspector Mc Intire - Otherwise known as Dante. And the 
 reason that Inspector Thatcher was almost literally steaming 
 had something to do with the piece of official paper work Mc 
 Intire was holding up for her to see. Dante for his part was 
 looking smugly satisfied. Turnbull started quietly backing 
 up. 
 ��������He didn't get far, Meg spun and stormed down the 
 corridor, grabbing his arm and dragged him along, along the 
 way. 
 ��������"Where is Benton?" She hissed. 
 ��������"In the hospital." 
 ��������"Literally?" 
 ��������He nodded. She hauled him into a side room. 
 ��������"What is he doing there?" 
 ��������"He was involved in a car accident." 
 ��������Meg looked at a speck of fluff on his shoulder, then 
 flicked it off. 
 ��������"Find Vecchio." 
 ��������"Er.. he was apparently involved too." 
 ��������She closed her eyes pinching the bridge of her nose. 
 ��������"Do you know what either of their conditions are?" 
 ��������"Fraser has 3 fractured ribs, a broken arm, and severe 
 whiplash." 
 ��������"Vecchio?" 
 ��������"I'm not aware of his condition, but Inspector Mc 
 Intire did get his hands on the accident report, Ma'am." 
 ��������"You cleared his desk off.. Did you.." 
 ��������"I placed all the official papers in a file to sort 
 through and file appropriately later, Ma'am." 
 ��������"Find me that report." 
 ��������"Yes, Ma'am. If I can ask, what was that paper about?" 
 ��������"He's stealing Fraser away, he went right over my head 
 to get him transferred to his consulate in Australia." 
 ��������"What?! You can't let him get away with that, Ma'am." 
 ��������"I don't intend to. Now find that accident report.. I 
 want to know what Vecchio's condition is before that man 
 gets through packing up Fraser's things and heads out, I 
 want to know what Vecchio's condition is, which hospital 
 he's at, and if you still have that picture you pulled from 
 the security camera's and faxed me." 
 ��������"Er.. No." 
 ��������"No???" 
 ��������"Er.. he walked in.. I had to get rid of it before he 
 saw it.. and.. I fed it into the shedder." 
 ��������She pinched the bridge of her nose again. 
 ��������"The tapes?" 
 ��������"Have been erased already, Ma'am." 
 ��������"You realise that when you shredded that picture and 
 didn't make sure the tape it came from was saved, you 
 destroyed the evidence I could have used to prove he 
 assaulted Fraser." 
 ��������"Actually Ma'am, all it proved is that someone did it, 
 it didn't show the actual assault." 
 ��������"Everyone here knows that he did it.. And you would 
 back me up if I filed a complaint on his behalf, wouldn't 
 you Turnbull."�������� 
 ��������"Yes Ma'am. But couldn't you use the Fax I sent you.." 
 ��������"Some idiot spilled coffee over it then tried to mop 
 the mess up, end result, the ink was smeared everywhere and 
 you couldn't tell what the Fax relayed." 
 ��������"Oh dear.." 
 ��������"Get the accident report, *now*." 
 ��������Turnbull nodded, spun and raced away. By the time she 
 reached her office and sat down in her chair to reach for 
 the phone he was slipping into her office. 
 ��������"That was fast." 
 ��������He brought the report to the desk and set it before 
 her. 
 ��������"Find out whether he came in a cab or a rented vehicle, 
 if it was the later, give it a flat tire or three." 
 ��������Turnbull nodded spun on his heel and hurried away. She 
 opened the report and began reading. 
 ��������When Turnbull returned a few minutes later, he found 
 her staring white faced at the report. 
 ��������"Ma'am." 
 ��������"He's dead." 
 ��������"Ma'am?" 
 ��������"Vecchio. He's dead." 
 ��������She looked up. 
 ��������"Has anyone visited Fraser yet?" 
 ��������"We tried.. He was always sedated during visiting 
 hours." 
 ��������"Mc Intire?" 
 ��������"Was visiting the hospital morning, noon and night 
 Ma'am. I'm sure he's been able to talk with him." 
 ��������"And Mc Intire saw this report.. Does he know about 
 their relationship?" 
 ��������"What relationship?" 
 ��������She stared at him. 
 ��������"Their partnership ended, Ma'am." 
 ��������"Before or.." 
 ��������"Before he arrived Ma'am. They had a fight about 
 something. Fraser told us that if Detective Vecchio rang we 
 were not to give him any information whatsoever unless it 
 was directly related to his official duties." 
 ��������"And they didn't sort it out." 
 ��������"Fraser went into hospital due to his.." 
 ��������"Allergy, yes.. it happened before I left.." 
 ��������"He returned the day after you left, and reiterated his 
 statement about the Detective. Then McIntire arrived.." 
 ��������"And Vecchio never once showed his face around here in 
 all that time?" 
 ��������"Not even once." 
 ��������She looked down at the report again. 
 ��������"So what the hell was Fraser doing in his car if they 
 were no longer associated?" 
 ��������"I have no idea Ma'am.. But Fraser did go missing 
 during the day.. After he left to attend to some errand and 
 Inspector Mc Intire went looking for him and came back in 
 one of his moods..." 
 ��������"At what time?" 
 ��������"Four O'clock." 
 ��������"The accident was at 8." 
 ��������"Vecchio rang in at a quarter to five asking if Fraser 
 was in and Fraser rang in ten minutes later to say he was 
 caught in the rain and had to go home, to change and 
 wouldn't be back because his allergy was making him 
 sensitive again." 
 �������� "Did you take the call?" 
 �������� "Yes Ma'am." 
 �������� "Did he *sound* like he did before he had that 
 sneezing fit here?" 
 ��������Turnbull thought about it, then shook his head. 
 ��������"No Ma'am." 
 ��������"So he lied..He could have been with Vecchio and didn't 
 want that big ape to find out.." 
 ��������"That would make sense Ma'am.. Inspector Mc Intire 
 always looked like he'd like to hit something whenever 
 someone paid Fraser too much attention. And he threw two 
 women out of the consulate *literally* after he caught them 
 trying to flirt with him. Then he dragged Fraser into his 
 office and yelled at him." 
 ��������"What did he yell?" 
 ��������Turnbull gave her a helpless shrug. 
 ��������"I don't know he wasn't using any language I'm familiar 
 with." 
 ��������"Is that when Fraser got the bruises?" 
 ��������"Er.. No Ma'am. He got those on his day off." 
 ��������"So you don't know for a *fact* that Mc Intire gave 
 them to him, do you? You're just making a guess." 
 ��������"Er.. Yes Ma'am.. but.." 
 ��������"Get out." 
 ��������"But.." 
 ��������"Now." 
 ��������Turnbull began backing up and Meg reached for the phone 
 and her Roladex. Flipping through to V for Vecchio she ran 
 her finger down the card until she found the number listed 
 as the household phone number and dialled it. 
 ��������Turnbull exited the room and closed the door as she 
 listened to the phone ring. Just when she was sure it was 
 going to ring out, the phone was answered. 
 ��������"Hello.. This is Inspector Thatcher, from the Canadian 
 Consulate.. I just returned to Chicago and heard the news 
 about Raymond. I was just ringing to extend my condolences 
 and learn the funereal arrangements so that.." 
 ��������Her eyes widened as the member of the Vecchio clan who 
 answered cut in. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg stepped into the ICU observation unit, to find 
 Francesca standing before the observation window, her eyes 
 glued on the deathly pale figure that lay corpse like on the 
 bed in the intensive care room beyond. He was surrounded by 
 an array of life support equipment, tubes and wire's 
 sprouting from his still form. One look was all Meg needed 
 to see that it would be impossible to enlist Raymond 
 Vecchio's assistance to keep Fraser from leaving with that 
 wretch Mc Intire. 
 ��������He might have been revived, but by the looks of it, the 
 only thing keeping him alive was the life support equipment 
 that surrounded him. 
 ��������Francesca looked around, her face pale, dark smudges 
 under her eyes on her make up free face. 
 ��������"Inspector Thatcher.. I thought you left town." 
 ��������Meg looked at Ray's still form again. 
 ��������"I left to be with my father before.. he died." 
 ��������"I'm sorry." 
 ��������"He's at peace now." 
 ��������"How..?" 
 ��������"Cancer." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"How is he?" 
 ��������Frannie drew in a deep shuddering breath shaking her 
 head. 
 ��������Meg reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder. Frannie 
 wrapped her arms around herself. 
 ��������"I keep expecting Fraser to walk in and then I remember 
 that they stopped talking to each other, months ago.. over 
 some stupid argument." 
 ��������"What did they have a fight about?" 
 ��������"There was this doctor.. Who.. er.. thought they were a 
 couple..and even though they both took advantage of it 
 later.. Ray ranted and raved about it.. he wasn't very happy 
 about it.. And Benton was staying with us.. And he was 
 taking Fraser to some appointment.. and came home, late at 
 night without Benton.. He was stinking drunk.. And he said 
 something about Benton being Gay. Benton never came back.. 
 Not even to get Deif.. Or thank us for looking after him.. 
 And I didn't believe it.. About him being Gay.." 
 ��������"But now.." 
 ��������"After Fraser took Dief, I heard Ray and my mother 
 talking and they were talking about Benton.. He really is 
 Gay.. My mother wanted to try and talk to Benton.. But Ray 
 kept telling her to forget it and said it was a stupid idea 
 in the first place because Benton had already made up his 
 mind.. And that there was no point because he was going 
 home." 
 ��������"Home? You mean to Canada?" 
 ��������Frannie nodded. 
 ��������"I heard him say it twice. Benton told him he was going 
 back to Canada." 
 ��������=:So either Fraser lied to him, and Vecchio found out 
 about it the night of the accident and Fraser being Fraser 
 would have gotten into the car and tried to explain it.. 
 Which would explain what he was doing in the car if they 
 weren't talking to each other. The wolf was involved, he was 
 probably out walking it when Vecchio drove past and saw 
 them...:= 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������After she left the Intensive care ward, Meg went down 
 to the reception to find out where Fraser was, and 
 discovered that he had checked out early that morning. Meg 
 spun and found a public phone with a pile of phone books and 
 let her fingers do the walking. Five minutes later she was 
 in a car speeding toward the airport where Fraser and Dante 
 were waiting to board a flight for Australia. 
 ��������As she jumped out of the car the last and final 
 boarding call for their flight went out. As she raced into 
 the airport and found out where the plane was boarding, it 
 pulled away. When she reached the gate, all she could do was 
 stand at the windows with the friends and family of 
 passengers and watch as the plane lifted off the tarmac and 
 rose into the sky that was as dark and gloomy as she felt. �������� 
 ��������He day was complete when she walked back to her car to 
 find a parking ticket under the wiper. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Fraser stepped out of the air-conditioned house with 
 views of Terrigal Beach to die for. He was hit by a wave of 
 heat and looked at the thermometer that lay under the door 
 bell. 36 it said. It felt more like 100. He stepped back 
 inside, grateful for the air-conditioning and returned to 
 the bedroom to open Dante's wardrobe. There had to be 
 something in it more suited to the weather he could wear. 
 ��������He regretted doing it as he saw all the shirts with 
 colourful patterns it contained and thought of Ray, who had 
 a collection of just as colourful shirts. He closed the 
 wardrobe sliding down the door pulling his legs up, wrapping 
 his arms around them. His head fell to his knees and the 
 tears he'd managed to hold back, till that moment, began to 
 fall. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Meg stood before the main window of her apartment 
 nursing a hot cup of coffee staring out the window. The sky 
 was as dark and overcast as the day Fraser left the country. 
 She couldn't believe that he'd left without once contacting 
 Ray's family, or visiting his bedside - the only explanation 
 for it had to be because he didn't know that Vecchio was 
 still alive, even if he was hanging on by a slender thread, 
 kept alive by machines that preformed the tasks his damaged 
 organs were no longer able to preform. 
 ��������She mentally chided herself for letting that man enter 
 her thoughts again. Fraser had fallen for that Earthbound 
 god and left everything he knew behind of his own free will. 
 He'd apparently cut all his ties with Vecchio, including his 
 ties with the Detective's family and associates. It didn't 
 seem likely that she'd ever learn why Fraser was in the car 
 the night of the accident. It nagged at her though. There 
 were so many things about the whole situation that just 
 didn't make sense to her. 
 ��������Sighing she finished her coffee and placed a phone call 
 to the hospital where Ray's family kept a vigil over him. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray opened his eyes, slowly focusing on the things 
 around him. His eyes widened when he saw Meg sitting at his 
 bedside in surgical scrubs, a mask and cap, she was reading 
 a bodice ripper that was familiar to Ray. Frannie had been 
 reading the same book whenever he woke up to find her at his 
 bedside. 
 ��������Ray made a gurgle around the tube down his throat. Meg 
 looked up and put the book aside. 
 ��������"Your family had found a house to rent close to the 
 hospital, they're moving into it as we speak.. I happened to 
 ring to ask how you were at the right time to be roped into 
 sitting with you while they were busy moving in." 
 ��������=Ah, that explains it.. G-d I wish I could talk.= 
 ��������Meg bent over and pulled out a bag. 
 ��������"Your sister gave me this. It's your mail.. From both 
 home and the precinct." 
 ��������She opened the bag and pulled out a pile of envelopes 
 with an elastic band around them. 
 ��������"I'll read out the return addresses and you can give me 
 the thumbs up if there are any there you want me to open so 
 you can read them." 
 ��������Then she began working her way through the collection. 
 Ray gave her the thumbs up twice and she opened the letters 
 and held them up where he could read them. The first one 
 made the heart rate monitor beep faster. She was curious but 
 when he made a wave she took it and folded it up to slip it 
 back in the envelope and resumed going through the pile 
 while he lay there seething. 
 ��������The second one he gave the thumbs up to made him raise 
 his arm to rip the letter away from her and scrunch it up. 
 He tried to toss it away but it landed on the bed, in his 
 lap as their wasn't much strength behind it. Meg collected 
 it and smoothed the letter out before tucking it back into 
 the envelope. 
 ��������"Bad news I take it." 
 ��������The scowl on his face was answer enough. 
 ��������She went through the rest of the pile and set it aside. 
 Out came five brown paper wrapped parcels. He looked 
 interested in those. She read the return address on the 
 first and he gave it the thumbs down. She set it aside and 
 looked at the next. It was covered in not at this address, 
 try this one stickers. 
 ��������"This is covered in alternate addresses." 
 ��������She found the return address and read it out he frowned 
 not recalling it. 
 ��������"The cancellation mark on this is several years old. 
 This parcel must have been travelling around for years." 
 ��������Curious he gave her the thumbs up and she opened the 
 parcel. She found several bound documents and a letter. She 
 held the letter up for him to read. He read the letter and 
 made a gurgle and grimaced his arm moving over his ribs. 
 ��������"May I?" 
 ��������He gave a faint nod and she looked at the letter. 
 ��������It was from someone within the FBI addressed to Raymond 
 Vecchio thanking him for his letter expressing an interest 
 in learning more about the art of building a profile of a 
 suspect. And the date at the top showed it had been sent out 
 almost a decade ago. 
 ��������"It took a long time for this to reach you. Did you 
 ever study profiling?" 
 ��������Ray gave a faint shake of his head. 
 ��������She looked at the text books that accompanied the 
 letter and flipped through them her eyes widening when she 
 realised what she had. 
 ��������"Did you write to the man who *invented* profiling? 
 These are case files from his records and guide to profiling 
 that he wrote. It's covered in hand written notes." 
 ��������Ray looked interested. She studied some of the notes 
 and looked at the case files. 
 ��������"The notes refer to the case files he included. Do you 
 know how hard it is to get the FBI to share the secrets of 
 profiling? They don't give that information out freely. Most 
 likely to stop the sort of people they use it to catch from 
 learning how to avoid being caught by a profiler." 
 ��������He signalled at her and it took her a few moments to 
 realise what he was trying to communicate. 
 ��������"You want me to read it for you?" 
 ��������He nodded. 
 ��������She turned to the first page and started reading. Six 
 pages in she stopped when she looked up to see him fighting 
 to stay awake. Marking the page with the letter she slipped 
 the books back into the wrapping with the note and set it 
 aside. He looked disappointed as he watched her slide the 
 rest of the parcels and letters back into the bag. The bag 
 went under the chair again minus the parcel she'd opened. 
 ��������"Stop fighting it, Detective." 
 ��������His hand made a few gestures and his frustration was 
 clear. 
 ��������"I'll be right back." 
 ��������She left the room and if he could have sighed he would 
 have. After listen to his sisters prattle on about things he 
 had very little interest in for the last few days, Meg had 
 been a breath of fresh air. And it was moments like this 
 that he just wanted to rip out the tubes that kept him from 
 being able to talk and was tempted to rip them out. But then 
 he remembered how he'd tried to do just that the first time 
 he'd come to his senses. They'd strapped him down and 
 sedated him heavily. 
 ��������He watched Meg return and when he saw what she had in 
 her hands his eyes lit up. She gave him a little smile then 
 stood by his bedside, helping him to hold the pen that she'd 
 collected from her briefcase. Then she held the note pad 
 she'd brought along up and with an effort he started 
 writing. 
 ��������He lost the pen, but she retrieved it, every single 
 time he dropped it. Finally he let his hand fall to the bed, 
 and closed his eyes letting sleep over take him. 
 ��������Meg looked at the pad, covered in the big shaky letters 
 that looked like they were made by a pre-school child. 
 ��������-Thank-you. X 1000 
 ��������XXXXXXXXOOXX- 
 ��������She chuckled as she sat and flipped to the next page 
 and made a note to visit a stationary store and get some 
 supplies the next day. Then she set the pad and pen aside 
 and picked up Frannie's bodice ripper to start reading 
 again. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Six 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������Dante watched Fraser mope around the beach house, and 
 sighed. All he seemed to do was lie in bed, or on the couch. 
 He didn't need to be a mind reader to know that he was 
 grieving for his friend. And the old spark of jealously that 
 would have set him off in the past just smouldered away. He 
 was certain there was more to it than just friendship the 
 way Fraser was mourning the passing of this Vecchio was a 
 clear sign of it. But he'd made certain promises, to trust 
 Fraser more, to not let his jealousy get the better of him 
 again and refused to let Fraser's mourning for a dead man 
 get to him. 
 ��������But the way Fraser moped around was getting to him on 
 another level. He needed to visit a doctor for follow up 
 treatment on his injuries but apart from keeping the 
 appointment Dante had set up the day they arrived so that he 
 could meet the Doctor and go over his medical records, 
 Fraser hadn't bothered to return to the doctor and three 
 messages from his surgery had been ignored. 
 ��������He wondered how to snap Fraser out of it, but couldn't 
 think of anything off hand. 
 ��������"Benton." 
 ��������Fraser slowly turned his whole body to look at him. His 
 neck still gave him a lot of pain whenever he moved his 
 head. 
 ��������"I rang the Quarantine people and they said it's O.K to 
 visit Deifenbaker while he's in quarantine." 
 ��������For the first time since he'd sunk into his highly 
 depressed state Fraser showed signs of animation. 
 ��������"Deifenbaker's alive!" 
 ��������"Well yes, didn't I mention that?" 
 ��������"No!" 
 ��������"Oh.. I'm sorry it must have slipped my mind." 
 ��������"How badly was he hurt in the crash?" 
 ��������"He got off lucky with bruises and shock. I arranged 
 for him to be sent here as soon as the vent thought he was 
 fit to travel. But the quarantine laws for animals like Deif 
 are very strict. He's going to be in quarantine for some 
 time." 
 ��������"Can we go tomorrow?" 
 ��������Dante nodded with a smile. 
 ��������"Sure.. I can get a copter from the heliport and have 
 someone meet us with a car at the other end." 
 ��������"There's a heliport near here? I haven't heard any 
 copters." 
 ��������"There's a heliport in west Gosford, you can hire a 
 copter there. That's how I got you here from the airport, 
 one of the people met us there, and we bundled you into the 
 copter. I'm sure you'll enjoy your flight out a lot more 
 than the flight in."�������� 
 ��������"I don't remember it." 
 ��������"The Pain killers knocked you out on the flight in you 
 were out cold... That's why I asked the doctor to prescribe 
 something else." 
 ���������������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg put the last of her days work aside and reached for 
 her phone dialling her mother's number. 
 ��������"It's me Meg.. How are you doing?" She asked when her 
 mother answered. 
 ��������She listened to her mother talk and assured her she was 
 fine and an idea that came to her in the hospital returned. 
 ��������"I was wondering.. Do you still have that hand & wrist 
 brace the nurse brought in for Dad?" 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Dante worked in the kitchen to prepare dinner after 
 their return from the quarantine center where Deif was being 
 tended. He jumped half out of his skin when he felt Fraser 
 wrap his good arm around his waist and give him a light hug. 
 ��������"Did I say thank-you?" 
 ��������"4 times already." 
 ��������"What are you preparing?" 
 ��������"Tossed Chicken Salad. We've got lettuce, cucumber, 
 tomato, capsicum and onion here," he said pointing to a 
 transparent green container with layers sliced and diced 
 vegetables. 
 ��������Its lid was set aside and there was a collection of 
 spice bottles near it along with a bottle of vinegar and 
 oil. 
 ��������"I've just got do the chicken and make some dressing 
 for it." 
 ��������"You make your own." 
 ��������"I had to play body guard to some Canadian VIP's 
 daughter who's ex lives here with his daughter she taught me 
 how to do it. She said there's nothing worse than a man who 
 doesn't know his way around a kitchen." 
 ��������He pointed to a shelf filled with cookbooks before he 
 slipped out of the embrace to move to the refrigerator and 
 fetched the barbecue chicken he'd collected on their way 
 home along with the milk and bread. 
 ��������"The exercise book is the recipe book she made for me." 
 ��������Curious Fraser moved to the shelf and pulled it down. 
 The book was dived into six sections, Easy Meals, Fancy 
 Meals, Soup, Salads, Stews and Deserts. Flipping through it 
 he found the recipe for chicken salad. Take one small onion, 
 dump in a bowl of boiling water. Take five large lettuce 
 leaves, slice them, take one large tomato dice it up, peel 
 quarter and slice a cucumber. Take one capsicum get rid of 
 the seeds slice and dice it. Take onion, peel, slice and 
 dice. Take one barbecue chicken or roast left overs. Dice 
 into bite sized chunks. Toss it all into a shaker sprinkle 
 with a little garlic salt and chicken seasoning, splash with 
 dressing base put lid on shake well and enjoy (serves two). 
 ��������=Simple and easy to understand= 
 ��������He flipped through and found a recipe for spaghetti 
 bolognaise sauce. 
 ��������Take One can of Campbell's spaghetti sauce, one small 
 tin Capsicums, one small tin Champignons, one tin of peeled 
 tomatoes (chop them to suit), one small tin corn and dump it 
 all in a *Big* pot. Sprinkle with Italian herbs, a little 
 parsley and garlic salt, bring to boil, then simmer, 
 stirring occasionally till it smells so good you can't wait 
 to eat it. (serves 4 - Tastes even better the next day) 
 ��������"This is a very simple recipe book." 
 ��������"She hates recipes books, she never measures anything, 
 when I brought her one, she sat there going through it, 
 saying, get real, get real, get real.. Then she tossed it on 
 the fire." 
 ��������"She wasn't very polite was she." 
 ��������"She ran a farm & only went shopping once a month. 
 Where ingredients were concerned if she couldn't keep it in 
 a cupboard, or freeze it she didn't use it. The only 
 vegetables she actually grew were salad vegetables for the 
 summer. Everything else came in tins." 
 ��������"Did you enjoy time there?" 
 ��������"It was good to get out from behind a desk and back 
 outside. Her ex was a horse breeder, she got his Australian 
 property. There were over a hundred horses on the farm. 
 Along with a dozen cows and chickens by the score. In summer 
 I lived on milk-shakes and salads. And I had my pick of the 
 horses to ride.. And yes I enjoyed it. Until I had to ask to 
 be reassigned." 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������"The girl's mother kept making advances. I put with it 
 until I'd trained the girl to defend herself. And wrote to 
 her father complaining about her lack of self defence 
 skills. She was sixteen and knew next to nothing about 
 defending herself. But she was an extremely fit young lady, 
 she had a lot of strength, and one hell of a kick. 
 Especially after I started teaching her kick boxing," he 
 said giving Fraser a grin. 
 ��������"Kick boxing? I didn't know you studied kick boxing 
 too." 
 ��������"Didn't I mention I took that up too? One of the 
 instructors at the martial arts center near the consulate 
 where I work out said I'd make a hell of a kick boxer," then 
 he chuckled, "when I introduced her to him and said, kick 
 that bag Didi, and she put a hole through it. He started 
 raving about her." 
 ��������"She put a hole through a sand bag." 
 ��������"Like I said, she had one hell of a kick and I'd 
 already taught her the basics. She took to kick boxing like 
 a duck to water, even though she studied other forms of 
 martial arts that was always her favourite. She went on to 
 take the title of Female kickbox champion a few years later 
 and there were a team of Hollywood producers who chased her 
 around waving contracts who wanted to turn her into a 
 martial arts movie goddess." 
 ��������Fraser chuckled. 
 ��������"Not that I blame them.. I remember one time she joined 
 me for a diplomatic function I had to attend. She dressed in 
 a figure hugging mini evening dress. I don't think there was 
 an eye in the room that wasn't on us. And all I heard for 
 the next week who was the goddess with the legs you took to 
 the function." 
 ��������He fetched plates out and served up the salad and 
 handed a plate to Fraser and headed for the dining room with 
 Fraser on his heels. 
 ��������"You'll get to meet her some time. She always drops 
 into the consulate or my chalet when she comes back to visit 
 her mother. I had to give her the key to the chalet, because 
 she just kicked the door in if I wasn't there when she 
 dropped in and I got sick of replacing the locks." 
 ��������Fraser laughed and Dante smiled to himself, happy to 
 hear him laughing again and searched his memory for stories 
 to keep him laughing. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg visited Ray again that night after she left the 
 consulate. His mother was sitting by his bedside when she 
 arrived and Ray was sleeping. Almost as if she'd sensed her 
 presence outside, Mrs Vecchio looked around and saw her 
 through the window. She turned and patted Ray's arm before 
 she rose and walked out. 
 ��������"How is he?" 
 ��������"He keeps drifting in and out of consciousness but the 
 Doctor says he is improving." 
 ��������"Do you mind if I sit with your son again?" 
 ��������Mr's Vecchio patted her arm. 
 ��������"Of course I don't mind, he seemed much more animated 
 after your visit." 
 ��������The two women left, with Mrs Vecchio making 
 arrangements for Meg to sit with her son with the Doctor. 
 When Meg returned in the sterile gown, cap and mask the 
 Doctors insisted all visitors wear, Ray's head moved and his 
 nose twitched as she sat by the bed. She heard him inhale 
 deeply a little frown appearing on his forehead. 
 ��������-O.K, there is someone there, but it's not Ma, or 
 Frannie or Maria. It's not a man, it doesn't smell like one, 
 that means it's a woman. (sniff) Hmm.. Not Elaine. Who could 
 it be. Well there's only one way to find out- 
 ��������Meg watched as his eyes opened, and his eyes lit up 
 when he saw her. His hand rose and he mimed writing. She 
 looked around saw the coast was clear and reached under the 
 gown to pull out her note book and pen. 
 ��������He had trouble holding the pen and kept dropping it, 
 but she kept retrieving it with infinite patience. He 
 thanked her again, and covered the rest of the page with X & 
 O's, and tried to flip the page. She flipped it for him and 
 he wrote look in the drawer. She set the pad aside and 
 opened the bedside drawer to find the parcel she'd opened. 
 ��������"Ah, you want me to read for you again." 
 ��������When she glanced at him he gave a tiny nod and a 
 hopeful look. She smiled faintly and ripped away the paper 
 to pull out the book and sat, looking for the page she'd 
 marked and started reading. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������The day the plaster came off, Dante celebrated by 
 taking Fraser shopping for clothes more suited to the 
 environment. The first stop was a clothing shop on the 
 beach. Dante's idea of suitable clothing was to chose six 
 suits consisting of cotton draw string pants, matching 
 singlets, long sleeved shirts and coats in bright colours. 
 Fraser left the shop wearing a pale blue suit, minus its 
 coat, with the shirt open to show the singlet underneath, 
 much to the appreciation of several beach bunnies who's itsy 
 bitsy, teeny weeny bright print bikinis left little to the 
 imagination. 
 ��������Fraser wasn't sure who their big smiles were for, in 
 his opinion Dante looked fabulous in his Levi's and singlet 
 which clung lovingly to every well sculpted inch of his 
 lightly tanned body. Dante ignored them, wrapping an arm 
 around his waist and pointed.�������� 
 ��������"We can get you some new shoes to go with your suits 
 there." 
 ��������The women got that "all the cute ones are gay" look on 
 their face and sauntered off looking for more appreciative 
 company. Fraser gave Dante a smile that made his heart beat 
 a little faster and ideas that involved a bed and lots of 
 physical contact. 
 �������� He gave a little shake of the head scratching those 
 ideas. Just because Fraser's plaster had come off didn't 
 mean he could pounce and get passionate. The doctor had 
 warned him to take it easy and work out a little before he 
 got into anything strenuous. But then again, there was 
 something to say about a slow and sensuous seduction, Dante 
 thought with a little smile and started planning just that. 
 ��������Three pairs of slip on shoes that would mix and match 
 with the suits and a pair of running shoes later, Dante had 
 to leave Fraser alone in the shoe shop to make a quick dash 
 to the closest EFTPOS machine to get a little more money. 
 ��������Fraser looked at a pair of boots set on a display shelf 
 with a matching belt, Akubra, and a bull whip and expressed 
 an interest in them. The sales person pulled them down and 
 showed them to him explaining how they were display only, 
 the boots were hand made leather and snake skin boots, of 
 exceptional quality. Fraser admired the work of both the 
 boots and the belt and got the details intending to inquire 
 about having a pair of boots (with matching belt) made up 
 for Dante's birthday once he returned to work. 
 ��������A shadow falling over him made him look up thinking the 
 salesman was returning with the promised business card, 
 instead what he found was a woman smiling down at him. She 
 wore a sarong wrapped around her slim waist and an itsy 
 bitsy bikini top providing little or no support for her 
 Dolly Parton bust line. One of her long legs rose, her 
 dainty foot setting on the chair between his legs. 
 ��������"I need shoes." 
 ��������Fraser gulped and tried to slide back as her foot began 
 inching closer and he saw Dante moving up behind her. 
 ��������=Here comes trouble= Fraser thought. 
 ��������Dante tapped her on the shoulder. 
 ��������"He's not a salesman," Dante said.�������� 
 ��������The woman glanced around did a double take then turned 
 to face Dante looking him up and down and set her shoulders 
 back virtually thrusting her impressive breasts at him. 
 ��������"Are those silicon or saline?" Dante asked. 
 ��������Fraser choked a laugh back at that. 
 ��������"100% natural," the woman claimed. 
 ��������"100% Gay," Dante responded. 
 ��������With a pout she departed and Fraser gave Dante another 
 one of the wicked idea inducing smiles. 
 ��������"Oh do stop doing that," Dante grouched pulling his 
 wallet out of his back pocket as the salesman approached. 
 ��������"Doing what?" Fraser asked innocently. 
 ��������"You know what," Dante retorted and pulled out some 
 polymer notes and handed them to Fraser as he rose. 
 ��������Fraser paid for the shoes and followed after Dante 
 juggling boxes. Dante packed them into the back of his Jeep 
 Cheroke and surprised Fraser by heading out of town. 
 ��������"Where are we going now?" 
 ��������"Now we've taken care of your casual wear, it's time to 
 shop for more formal clothes suitable for your new 
 environment." 
 ��������Fraser settled back and watched the picturesque 
 landscape they passed through. He sat up a little straighter 
 as they moved along a familiar route. 
 ��������"Are we going to the heliport?" 
 ��������"No, though it's on their route." 
 ��������"Where are we going?" 
 ��������"Sydney, city. It's only an hour away by the freeway at 
 this time of day. By the way, since I'm the one paying for 
 this wardrobe of yours I hope you don't mind if we stop over 
 at Oxford street along the way to find a little something.. 
 special." 
 ��������"Evening wear?" 
 ��������Dante grinned. 
 ��������"You could say that." 
 �������� 
 ��������============== 
 ��������Writers note: Oxford street is the hub of Kings Cross 
 Gay scene and there a number of shops that cater to the 
 leather fetishist and bondage lovers. 
 ��������============= 
 
 ��������Fraser smiled as Dante lead him into the R.M William's 
 shop near Central railway station, and was soon the proud 
 owner of 3 new pairs of jeans, riding pants, cotton shirts, 
 two new belts and an Akubra hat. The bags were packed in the 
 back of the jeep, and Dante took him for a walk across the 
 street. Fraser thought he was being lead to an adult book 
 shop as Dante lead him to a pair of stair cases between a 
 milk bar and a bar. The hoardings proclaimed it to be an 
 adult book shop with XXXX rated books. There were two stair 
 cases, one leading up and one leading down. Dante lead him 
 down stairs and Fraser was surprised to find an eclectic 
 collection of books that didn't fit his idea of adult books. 
 ��������Dante laughed at his obvious confusion. 
 ��������"The Adult book shop's upstairs, this is the Book 
 Exchange, a great place to look for out of print books, just 
 wait here, I have to pick up a book," he said before he 
 walked to the back of the shop to speak to the man seated in 
 the open office there who was working on the computer. 
 ��������He was handed a book and when he returned to the front 
 of the shop it was to find Fraser had made like a Dodo and 
 vanished. He peered around the shop and found him perusing a 
 shelf of non fiction books. Instead of one book, they left 
 with over a dozen, Fraser had selected an Australian classic 
 or two, along with books on the country itself and two 
 dictionaries, one for Italian speakers produced by Cassel's 
 when he was just a boy. 
 ��������He flipped through it while Dante drove through the 
 city's streets. Fraser was oblivious to the mix of modern 
 and classic architecture that lined the streets as he 
 flipped through the dictionary. 
 ��������"This is an excellent dictionary for someone who 
 doesn't speak the language," Fraser said, "It includes lists 
 of commonly used phrases with common words." 
 ��������"Why on Earth did you want to buy an Italian 
 Dictionary?" 
 ��������"You never know when learning another language will 
 come in useful Dante. For instance .." 
 ��������Fraser found a list of commonly used phrases to convey 
 a message of love and affection and used one on Dante. 
 ��������"Don't flirt while I'm driving," Dante said. 
 ��������"You know what I said." 
 ��������Dante translated it perfectly. 
 ��������"I didn't know you speak Italian." 
 ��������"I speak French, Italian & German, fluently, and that 
 includes slang, which it never hurts to learn, and that 
 dictionary won't teach you. I also started learning Japanese 
 a year or two ago, and I'm thinking of studying Vietnamese 
 or Chinese next. But then again.. I only started learning 
 all those languages for something to do at night." 
 ��������"Perhaps you could help me study Italian." 
 ��������"If that's what you want to do. Though I'd recommend 
 Japanese. There are a lot of Japanese businessmen and 
 tourists around and you will occasionally end up dealing 
 with them. It's so much easier to do when you can speak 
 their language." 
 ��������"I'm familiar with Italian, I will pick that up 
 faster." 
 ��������"Whatever your little heart desires." 
 ��������Fraser continued to peruse the dictionary until Dante 
 pulled up on Oxford street. When he looked around his eyes 
 widened. Dante clambered out and opened his door for him. 
 ��������"Welcome to Oxford street." 
 ��������A pair of men walked past holding hands, another couple 
 one with his arms around his partner's waist, the other with 
 his hand tucked into the back pocket of his partner's tight 
 jeans sauntered past and gave them the eye. 
 ��������Dante locked the Cheroke and wrapped an arm around 
 Fraser's shoulder's and lead him down the street, while 
 Fraser took note of all the openly gay couples, both male 
 and female who strolled the streets. He was so busy taking 
 that in that he didn't notice what kind of shop Dante was 
 leading him too until he was inside and a leather clad 
 shopkeeper with a campy attitude greeted them. 
 ��������With wide eyes Fraser looked around. 
 ��������"And what can I do for you?" The shopkeeper asked. 
 ��������"I wants pants and a collar n' cuffs set for my Friend 
 here," Dante said patting Fraser on the chest. 
 ��������"Tight fight or loose." 
 ��������"As tight as they come." 
 ��������Half an hour later, Fraser followed Dante out the 
 bemused owner of a pair of skin tight black leather pants, 
 that Dante made him wear, and a black leather studded "dog" 
 collar, with a hoop on the front, and a lock with a tiny 
 gold padlock on the back around his neck hidden under the 
 collar of his shirt which he'd pulled up and used to cover 
 it. The cuffs matched the collar and were hidden by the 
 sleeves of his shirt. 
 ��������Dante packed the bag that contained the cotton pants 
 Fraser had been wearing, in the back of the Cheroke, made 
 Fraser undo his collar and open it to show off the leather 
 collar and roll back his sleeves then led him to a bar 
 filled with blue collar & stylishly dressed men, where they 
 had lunch. 
 ��������No one tried to flirt with them, though a few men at 
 the bar seemed interested, till they saw the cuffs with 
 pointy studs around Fraser's wrists when he reached for his 
 drink. 
 ��������"I made a booking at a hotel for the night while you 
 were trying on those pants, so we can spend the day sight 
 seeing. I think I'll leave the Cherokee at the Mitchell, 
 take a walk through the Botanical gardens through to the 
 Quay, and show you the harbour & the Rocks and we can finish 
 off with a trip over to Taronga zoo, and the aquarium at 
 Manly." 
 ��������"What is the Mitchell?" 
 ��������Dante smiled at him impishly. 
 ��������"You'll find out soon enough." 
 ��������Half an hour later Fraser stood outside the imposing 
 structure across the way from the Botanical gardens that was 
 the Mitchell Library. And while he thought it was impressive 
 from the outside, he thought it was considerably more 
 impressive after passing through its doors to be lead to the 
 main reading room. 
 ��������"Well, what do you think?" Dante asked as he waved to 
 the rooms high vaulted multi level room, with row after row, 
 level after level of books shelves, loaded down with books 
 new and old. 
 ��������"They say if it's been published in Australia, you can 
 find it here." 
 ��������"I think my grandparents would have been in heaven 
 here," Fraser said. 
 ��������"Would you like to look around?" 
 ��������Fraser looked around, then wound his arms around one of 
 Dante's. 
 ��������"If I start looking through the books you won't get me 
 out of here in a hurry and you promised to show me the 
 gardens." 
 ��������Dante smiled. 
 ��������"We can always come back here later, can't we?" 
 ��������"Of course. The consulate is here in Sydney, on 
 Harrington Street." 
 ��������"And you booked a suite at a hotel??" Fraser was 
 confused. 
 ��������"I don't live in Sydney, I only work here, I commute 
 from Terrigal." 
 ��������"Why did you buy a home so far from the consulate?" 
 Fraser asked as Dante lead him out of that magnificent 
 structure.�������� 
 ��������"I didn't.. I used to rent an apartment in the Cross, 
 but I did have a property in Canada. I made a friend from 
 the French Consulate who was transferring to Canada who 
 owned the house at Terrigal and traded properties with him." 
 ��������"Ah." 
 ��������"Though the position of Liaison officer comes with a 
 apartment here in the city near the consulate. When he 
 retires next week, it becomes mine along with his position." 
 ��������"You should have returned to duty at the consulate when 
 you returned here.." 
 ��������"He knows I've been looking after you. He's been 
 nagging me for years to find a partner and settle down.. if 
 you have no objections, we'll have lunch with him tomorrow." 
 ��������"I have no objections." 
 ��������"Good.. He's worried about his daughter's decision to 
 stay in Australia. Once she sees I have a S.O she should get 
 it through her thick skull that I'm not interested." 
 ��������"Oh... that's why he's been nagging you to settle down 
 with someone, because of his daughter." 
 ��������"Exactly. Lovely woman, when she's not being a 
 barracuda and speaking of big fish.. You just have to see 
 the Gold fish here.." 
 ���������������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������When Meg finished reading the profiling guide and case 
 history's included with it Ray dropped off as she closed the 
 bound file. She wondered if he really had fallen asleep or 
 just pretended to do it when he looked extremely surprised 
 to see her the next day. He was also curious, as she came 
 baring a sports bag. She leaned over him, touching his arm. 
 ��������"I can't stay long, you have another visitor, but I 
 brought you some things to make your life a little easier." 
 ��������Then she pulled out a hand brace with an attachment. He 
 frowned and raised his hand as instructed. She put the brace 
 on his hand and then pulled out a pen and slipped it into 
 the attachment. 
 ��������"There, now you won't keep dropping the pen." 
 ��������He gave her the thumbs up and if he could have smiled 
 he would have given her a big one when she pulled out a 
 computer note stand of the type that has clamps and a swing 
 bar. She attached it to the side bars. 
 ��������"Lift your hand and pretend to write.. Tell me when I 
 get the angle right." 
 ��������He obeyed and she worked to adjust it till she got it 
 just right for him to be able to write comfortably and be 
 able to see what he was doing then she locked it into place 
 twisting screw joints tight. A nice thick pad of blank paper 
 was placed on the stand and she pulled out a thick pile of 
 the same kind of pads and put them on the bedside table. 
 ��������Ray covered the first sheet in shaky X's and a big 
 smiley face at the bottom while she closed up the bag. He 
 held the page out to her and she gave him a smile. 
 ��������"You're welcome." 
 ��������He raised his hand to study the brace and gave her a 
 curious look. 
 ��������"My father couldn't talk near the end, and could only 
 communicate through writing notes. But he kept loosing his 
 grip on the pen and got very frustrated and started sulking 
 till one day the nurse who tended to his needs brought that 
 brace in. I was looking for some kind of lap table for you 
 to put paper on so you could write when I walked past a 
 computer shop and saw that stand in their window display. I 
 realised it would be better than a lapstand and went back 
 and brought it." 
 ��������-How much do IOU?- He wrote. 
 ��������She waved it off. 
 ��������"Don't worry about it. I have to go now, your other 
 visitor must be getting impatient." 
 ��������For the first time his arm rose and moved over the bed 
 rail, his hand wrapping around her arm stopping her as she 
 turned away. She looked down at his hand, then turned back 
 and he let her go to start writing. 
 ��������-Come back again please- 
 ��������She patted his arm. 
 ��������"Relax, I'll be back. Tomorrow. Now I really have to go 
 before your visitor gets too impatient and decides to 
 leave." 
 ��������This time he let her leave and watched her cross the 
 room to walk out. He wondered who his visitor could be. 
 Since Meg had started visiting him on a regular basis none 
 of his family members had visited at that time of the day. 
 Sometimes other officer's from the precinct visited, but 
 that was usually during the day, and they kept their visits 
 short. Except Elaine she visited at least once a week and 
 proved to be a fountain of information about who was doing 
 what with whom around the station. What cases were solved or 
 still open. Huey it seemed had been given half his cases, 
 the other half had been divided amongst the other detectives 
 at the precinct. 
 ��������His thoughts turned to a case Elaine told him Huey had 
 taken on and was having trouble with. He remembered it, he'd 
 been doing work on that particular case on the day he'd had 
 his accident and hadn't been able to make up his notes. He 
 looked at the stand and raised a hand to start doing that. 
 ��������Ray looked around as the door opened and a man in 
 scrubs and mask entered the room. He frowned, not 
 recognising him. The frown vanished and a startled look took 
 it's place when the man crossed the room and sat down 
 introducing himself as the man who'd invented profiling. 
 ��������"Your friend, Meg told me you've had an interest in 
 learning profiling for a long time." 
 �������� 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Seven 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������Fraser lay curled up in bed, a chain looped through the 
 loop on his locked collar chaining him to the bed. He 
 shuddered as he felt Dante's hand sliding over his back, but 
 Dante mistook it for something else. The caress was followed 
 by the bed dipping and Dante's lips on the sensitive flesh 
 on his throat above the collar that had become a sign of his 
 dominated state. 
 ��������He stared out the window not seeing the view of the 
 harbour, as he endured Dante's affections and regretted not 
 for the first time the day he'd come to this country with 
 the man who now controlled his life. Every aspect of his 
 life. From his work at the consulate to his life outside its 
 walls. Every item of clothing he owned was selected by 
 Dante, all the clothes he'd brought with him, barring his 
 uniform, Dante had taken and given away to some charitable 
 organisation. Including the clothes Ray and Francesca had 
 given him for his birthday which Fraser had refused to part 
 with until Dante's visage had taken on that furious cast 
 Fraser was becoming all too familiar with. 
 ��������He couldn't remember the last time Dante had smiled, no 
 that was a lie, he could remember it well. It had been the 
 day Fraser had fallen back in love with him. When he'd been 
 pampered, shown around the city, and presented with a ring 
 for his finger during a harbour cruise. Dante had pledged 
 his love, and made promises of undying love and affection, 
 and followed the cruise with a limo ride to a 5 star hotel 
 where he spent the rest of the evening showering him TLC, 
 making slow sweet love to him, first in the spa bath, then 
 in the big bed that was the main feature of the large suite 
 Dante had booked. 
 ��������As he lay curled in Dante's arms late in the night, he 
 woke to the feel of those arms tightening around him in a 
 
 cruelly tight embrace that made it hard to breath. He heard 
 Dante whimper in his sleep and fought to break that hold, 
 and woke Dante in the process. Looking into his eyes Fraser 
 had gone from confused to concerned, touching Dante's face 
 he found it cold and clammy to touch. 
 ��������He'd scrambled out of bed and called reception who'd 
 sent a doctor up. By the time he arrived Dante was sitting 
 up holding his head and after questioning, the Doctor 
 diagnosed a severe migraine and left, returning to give 
 Dante an injection. Dante had settled back into a restless 
 sleep, but after that night he'd never been the same. 
 ��������He never smiled, settling into a permanent dour mood, 
 he seemed to consume headache capsules at the rate of a pack 
 a day, snarling and growling his way through the day. Fraser 
 had thought it would pass but as the weeks passed he only 
 grew worse. All Fraser's attempts to get him to see a doctor 
 failed and only seemed to make him angry. When his mood 
 shifted from growling grump to terrifying fury Fraser called 
 a Doctor who diagnosed another migraine and gave him a shot 
 but Fraser knew there had to be more to it. 
 ��������So far Dante had managed to restrain himself, though 
 his jealousy and possessive behaviour had escalated to the 
 point where the other staff at the consulate were afraid to 
 spend any time in Fraser's company. But there were times 
 Fraser feared for his safety, times when Dante raised a hand 
 to him, and roared at him, hurling abusive language at him, 
 but never laying a hand on him. He wondered how long that 
 would last, he'd thought Dante would cross the line that 
 evening, instead he'd trashed the apartment around Fraser 
 and chained him to the bed before leaving to take a long 
 walk. 
 ��������The chain was strong, and just long enough for Fraser 
 to be able to lie down, but any attempt to leave the bed was 
 cut short. He couldn't even reach the bedside drawer to find 
 something to break the tiny golden padlock. 
 ��������The feel of Dante's hands moving over him, his finger's 
 sliding inside preparing him for an intimate invasion him 
 made Fraser want to cringe, but he forced himself to relax. 
 Any time he tensed up or rejected Dante's love making it 
 turned rough while Dante accused him of all manner of 
 betrayals. 
 ��������Fraser bit into the pillow and fought to hold back the 
 cry of pain as Dante entered him and began seek his pleasure 
 with strong deep thrusts, while biting at Fraser's throat 
 and shoulders. Fraser tried to lose himself in a fantasy 
 imagining not Dante but Ray, but he couldn't do it, he 
 couldn't imagine Ray using him like this, keeping him in 
 chains, and he was dead, suspicions and dreams would be for 
 naught, there would be no nights of love in his arms. The 
 fantasy shattered and he found himself crying 
 uncontrollably, his chest heaving with sobs. 
 ��������For a moment he thought his tears had reached Dante as 
 he stilled, then he felt Dante climax and shudder over him 
 growling, "You're mine, now and forever," before withdrawing 
 and rolling away. Burying his face in the pillow Fraser's 
 sobs increased. There used to be a time, Dante would hold 
 him in his arms and whisper words of love instead. Now, 
 Dante didn't even want to hold him any more. The only time 
 he ever touched him was when he wanted sex and that had 
 ceased to bring any pleasure to Fraser though he was sure if 
 Dante made the effort it could. 
 ��������But it was no longer about love, it was about 
 possession, and he was no longer Dante's partner, he was 
 Dante's possession. Without being aware of what he was 
 really doing, Fraser began planning his escape. He no longer 
 cared about getting help for Dante, self preservation 
 dictated that he get as far away from Dante as fast as 
 possible, if at all possible. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray's release from the hospital was celebrated with a 
 big party thrown jointly by his family and colleagues from 
 the precinct at one of his favourite restaurants. 
 ��������Ray enjoyed himself at first. It was good to get out of 
 the hospital and to see his friends, but he couldn't keep 
 the mood up for long feeling a pang of loneliness as he 
 watched Huey and his new partner Dewey laughing at some joke 
 and his sister Maria and Tony making eyes at each other over 
 the table. 
 ��������No one seemed to notice when he left the table, or they 
 all assumed he was going to the bathroom. He wasn't. He 
 walked out of the restaurant and stopped dead on the side 
 walk when he saw his car, its paintwork gleaming and free of 
 dents, gouges and all evidence of the crash. He moved closer 
 and peered through the window to see that it was the same 
 car and not a replacement. It seemed to gleam inside and 
 out. 
 ��������The rattle of keys preceded the dangling of his keys 
 before his eyes and he took them as he turned to see his 
 mother. 
 ��������"She's working late at the consulate. I'm sure she'd be 
 happy to see you, especially if you come bearing this," his 
 mother said holding up a bag of take away food containers. 
 ��������He kissed her cheek taking the bag, and she resisted 
 the urge to give him a hug, everyone had, and it was 
 starting to grate on his nerves being treated like fragile 
 glass. He turned away opening the car and yanked the door 
 open, sliding in to put the food on the passenger seat. 
 ��������"What the insurance didn't cover all your friends 
 chipped in to cover." 
 ��������"Thank them for me." 
 ��������"I will." 
 ��������She remained on the corner watching him drive and for 
 the first time in a long time he obeyed every road rule and 
 drove safely through the night until he pulled up at the 
 consulate. He saw a lone light in a window in her office as 
 he climbed out with the take away food. A soda can retrieved 
 from the street and crushed under foot was hurled at her 
 window and she threw it up ready to berate the thrower and 
 did a double take when she saw Ray waving and holding up the 
 bag. 
 ��������"Hungry??" He called out. 
 ��������"I'll be down in a minute," she called back. 
 ��������She was, letting him in and leading him up to her 
 office. He settled himself down in a seat while she fetched 
 cutlery, plates and coffee on a tray. 
 ��������"I ate already," he said when she started opening 
 containers. 
 ��������"I heard they were arranging a party.." 
 ��������"They did. I went and everyone was having a good time." 
 ��������"Except you, obviously." 
 ��������"It reminded me of Fraser." 
 ��������{So you came here} 
 ��������"Do you know how he's going?" 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"Oh. Well.. How are things going here? I know you've 
 been pretty busy lately.. I wondered why you stopped 
 coming." 
 ��������"Fraser's replacement makes Turnbull look like a master 
 of efficiency," She said, then smiled faintly, "Actually, 
 Turnbull has become rather efficient." 
 ��������"Fraser said Dante scared him into it." 
 ��������He watched her face take on a disagreeable cast. 
 ��������"But enough about them.. I want to talk about you." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"I don't think I ever thanked you for arranging that 
 meeting with the Master Profiler." 
 ��������"Did you enjoy it?" 
 ��������"It was interesting.. We discussed a case of mine, he 
 told me what I'd have to do to get into profiling now.. Not 
 that I want to be a profiler.. I just think that it would be 
 a hell of a skill to have, being a detective. Did I mention, 
 I discussed a case that was transferred to Huey with him and 
 he helped me to put a profile of the guy together from the 
 information I already had. He took it home, tidied it up and 
 put in all the right psycho babble, then brought it back so 
 I could give it to Huey and they nailed a suspect the very 
 next day using it." 
 ��������"All the more reason to study profiling. And become an 
 accredited Profiler." 
 ��������"I couldn't get into the FBI's profiler programme, you 
 need qualifications that I ain't got and it would take me 
 years to get them. I correspond with him now.. Not that I've 
 got much to write about.. but that'll change when I get back 
 on the job. He's been sending me information on old cases, 
 no profiles.. I had to look them over and construct a basic 
 profile from the information he sent using that guide he 
 sent me. And I've got a long list of books he recommended on 
 psychology and criminology. I'll start hunting them down and 
 build up a collection. I've actually got a few of the crime 
 books he recommended already. I got them years ago.. they're 
 gathering dust in a box in the attic somewhere. I'll have to 
 find them." 
 ������������������������ 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������At some point during the evening Ray discovered Fraser 
 had gone to Australia to work as the Deputy Liaison officer 
 under Dante at the Sydney consulate. He wondered why he 
 couldn't feel happy for his friend, then Meg told him she 
 didn't think Fraser knew he'd survived the accident. That 
 stuck in his mind, as he left the consulate and tailed her 
 home. She came over to his car, and invited him up for 
 coffee, for a moment he was tempted to take up the offer, 
 his body singing go for it. 
 ��������But he knew his family would start to worry about him 
 if he didn't return home soon and declined. She looked 
 faintly disappointed as she stepped back and he drove away 
 with her on his mind instead of Fraser. 
 ��������His mind returned to Fraser the next morning when he 
 visited the precinct. An immediate return to work was not on 
 the cards. He had to be medically certified fit to return to 
 work first and that was still some time away, and then he 
 could look forward to being confined to a desk job for the 
 first few weeks until he passed the police services fitness 
 tests which were far more strenuous than what his doctor had 
 put him through. �������� 
 ��������Once that was settled, he began making nebulous plans 
 for how to spend that time. Those plans became concrete when 
 Welsh handed him papers concerning his entitlements 
 surprising him. 
 ��������"You were on your way to the hospital on police 
 business when the accident occurred," Welsh reminded him. 
 ��������Between his own private health cover & insurance and 
 the Chicago PD arranged kind all his medical bills were 
 covered and he had quite a tidy sum left over. More than 
 enough to make those nebulous plans a reality. 
 ��������His first stop on leaving the precinct was the bank to 
 cash the cheque Welsh had given him, then it was off to the 
 Australian Embassy. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Fraser sat on the floor looking at the wreckage left in 
 the wake of another of Dante's fits of temper and his own 
 attempts to find his papers, his passport among them. It had 
 been a fruitless search. They papers just weren't there, and 
 he had no idea where they could be. Without them, he 
 couldn't leave the country, and unless he could do so, 
 escaping his increasingly volatile lover would be next to 
 impossible. Dante had friends within both state and Federal 
 police networks of the country. They'd find him, and lead 
 Dante to him. 
 ��������He needed to get out of the country to escape Dante, 
 but he needed his passport to do that and Dante had 
 effectively trapped him by making sure he couldn't get it. 
 Any attempt to get a new one would reach Dante's ears before 
 he was successful and he could imagine the results. No, he 
 had to find out where Dante had put his papers and do it 
 soon, but first he had to make sure Dante wasn't aware he 
 was searching for them, which mean restoring the apartment 
 to order even if it was the last thing he felt like doing. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg Thatcher was in the middle of reaming out the 
 incompetent woman who had replaced Fraser when her phone 
 rang. With no hurry she answered it. 
 ��������"Inspector Thatcher?" 
 ��������Annoyance twisted her face. 
 ��������{After all this time you think he'd drop the Inspector 
 at least. It's not as if he's one of my staff} 
 ��������"Vecchio what.. " 
 ��������"Sorry to intrude." 
 ��������"I hope you've got a good reason for it." 
 ��������She turned from the curious eyes of her incompetent 
 subordinate, walking away. 
 ��������"What the matter?" 
 ��������"I'm in Australia.. What you said about Fraser got me 
 thinking.. You were right, about Benni not knowing I made 
 it. I tracked him down..and.. That guy who was holding the 
 fort down for you." 
 ��������"Inspector McIntire." 
 ��������"He's psycho, he's turned Fraser into a virtual 
 prisoner here.. He's terrified of what will happen if Dante 
 - Mc Intire finds out I'm here.. He wants to leave but he 
 can't.. Dante has all his papers and Benni can't find them 
 or get new ones to leave this country behind. You know what 
 he'd need to return to America.. Do you think you can 
 arrange it and get them out to me so I can bring him back 
 with me?" 
 ��������"How serious is the situation?" 
 ��������"Very.. Fraser can't leave the apartment without Dante 
 at his side any more. He can't go anywhere without Dante 
 there.. Fraser says he sick.. Literally, there's something 
 wrong with him, but he refuses to see a doctor and gets 
 worse everyday, he's been mentally deteriorating in front of 
 Benni's eyes. He's always in a foul mood, paranoid, 
 occasionally violent and .." 
 ��������She heard him hesitate, the rustling of cloth then 
 Vecchio was back. 
 ��������"I'm sure there's a lot more going on that Benni won't 
 tell me about.. And I ain't about to repeat some of the 
 things he told me over the phone." 
 ��������She sighed it was worse than she imagined it could get. 
 ��������"How did you get to speak to him?" 
 ��������"Benni likes libraries, he warned me about Dante in the 
 past.. So I knew being seen with him, by Dante would just 
 cause trouble. So I found out where every library around the 
 consulate was and started checking each one.. Wouldn't you 
 know it, he's a regular visitor to the biggest library in 
 the state.. It's the only place Dante lets him go to alone. 
 I found out when he usually drops in and had to wait for 
 three days before he did.. He almost fainted when he saw me. 
 And he promised to met me here again, but he's been a no 
 show and I don't wanna waste another minute.. He's terrified 
 of what Dante will do if he finds out about me.. And he 
 swore if I could help him get the papers he'd come back with 
 me." 
 ��������"Alright, I get the picture, where should I send the 
 paperwork?" 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray hovered in his usual place, hidden but well placed 
 to watch every person who entered through the main entry of 
 the Mitchell library. Three days had passed since the 
 courier Meg had dispatched with the papers he'd needed 
 including the all important replacement passport. Those 
 papers were tucked away in the deep pocket of Ray's bright 
 cotton coat. 
 ��������He'd arrived at the end of the summer season, and taken 
 the opportunity to purchase a few new suits, shirts, pants 
 and coats more suited to the Australian summer at knock down 
 prices. He'd been thinking how they'd come into their own 
 back home during the next heat wave and been quite gleeful 
 once he'd done his sums and worked out what he'd have paid 
 for them back home. But the meeting with Fraser had taken 
 any delight he felt away. 
 ��������Now all he felt was increasing anxiety and concern for 
 his absent friend. Checking his watch, his anxiety rose, he 
 gave up on Fraser arriving and stepped out of his hiding 
 place to stride across the wide marble floored entry hall a 
 tenuous plan of action taking shape in his head. A hand on 
 his arm drew him from his thoughts and to a stop. 
 ��������He looked around to see a well dressed aboriginal man 
 in a suit and recalled that he'd seen the man enter the 
 library half an hour ago. The man was comparing his face to 
 a piece of paper in his hand. 
 ��������"Raymond Vecchio?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������The man pulled an I.D case from his suit and flashed 
 his I.D and Badge before Ray's face and identified himself 
 as a Federal police officer by the name of Mandaway before 
 asking Ray to accompany him - To the Hospital. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Eight 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������Ray stood slumped against the lounge room wall, arms 
 crossed, watching Fraser who was curled up in a chair, arms 
 wrapped around his drawn up legs staring at nothing as he 
 rocked back and forth, swaying now and then. Deif lay at 
 Fraser's feet looking up at him now and again with a little 
 whine of sympathy. 
 ��������Hearing someone approaching Ray looked to see his 
 mother leading Meg into the room. Ray bolted upright and 
 hurried to their side. His mother departed, to make tea, or 
 so she said. Meg studied Fraser, a look of sadness on her 
 face. 
 ��������"He's been like that since he was released from the 
 hospital. The only time he does anything else is when he's 
 sleeping," Ray said with a sigh, running a hand through hair 
 that needed a cut. "That's when he starts screaming till I 
 hit him with a sedative to put him into deep sleep - no 
 dreams." 
 ��������"They gave you the sedatives?" 
 ��������"Yeah.. He did the same thing at the hospital. The 
 Doctor said he should be transferred to a psychiatric 
 facility. I had to do some fast talking to get them to agree 
 to release him into my care. I had to sign a stack of 
 papers. And I'm starting to wonder if maybe it was the wrong 
 thing to do. He just doesn't react to anything."�������� 
 ��������She reached out and rubbed his arm. 
 ��������"You did the right thing. Being placed in psychiatric 
 care in a strange land, surrounded by strangers would have 
 been the worst thing that could have happened." 
 ��������"Oh, no, the worst thing that could have happened is 
 what left him in this state. Mc Intire lost it entirely with 
 him.. And he didn't just beat the living daylights out of 
 him, he raped him," Ray growled in a low voice that wouldn't 
 carry far. 
 ��������Meg's eyes closed and he saw her shudder. 
 ��������"I don't know what to do any more. He doesn't react to 
 anything." 
 ��������"He needs a friend to help him get through this.. But 
 your family shouldn't have to deal with it." 
 ��������"I'm not taking him back to that flea pit of his." 
 ��������"I wasn't going to suggest it. My place is.. " 
 ��������"It's not in the same place Mc Intire stayed at while 
 he was here is it?" 
 ��������"No."�������� 
 ��������"How many rooms?" 
 ��������"Two.. One's my office.. But I can convert it to a 
 bedroom. If you handle him at night, I'll handle him during 
 the day. We can take it in shifts. Oh.. And.. I've already 
 talked to the CPD.. I know you converted your leave to 
 indefinite leave without pay to tend to him for as long as 
 it takes. You'll be covered by the RCMP from here on in." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"We take care of our own. This whole mess should never 
 have taken place, McIntire should never have been permitted 
 to come near Fraser again.. Not after what happened the 
 last time." 
 ��������"What happened?" 
 ��������"He beat Fraser... Fraser has Battered Spouse Syndrome, 
 no matter how many times that man hurt him, he always found 
 excuses or lied for him.. Would never lay charges. It took 
 his father acting to get him out of his clutches." 
 ��������"As much as I despise that man for what he did to 
 Fraser, I'm telling you there is no way Benni woulda gone 
 back to the guy if he was a serial abuser." 
 ��������"You can say that after what he did this time?" 
 ��������"Benni told me he was sick.. The Mandaway guy from the 
 Fed's there, said they interviewed staff at the consulate 
 and they all said, his personality had changed drastically. 
 Everyone who knows him said the same thing. And once they 
 catch him, they'll be dragging him to a hospital for a 
 physical before they run a psychological exam on him. If it 
 turns out he's perfectly fit and sane, he'll be charged for 
 what he did to Benni and we'll have to take him back for the 
 trial. If not, they'll lock him up in a psych ward and make 
 arrangements to ship him home, quietly." 
 ��������"I've been doing what I can on my end.. The RCMP is 
 moving on this, his personal effects are being seized, his 
 accounts frozen. His passport was revoked. His former 
 superior has returned to work with the Federal police on 
 this matter. Mc Intire won't get far before he's caught." 
 ��������"What about.. His mental state?" Ray asked, indicating 
 Fraser rocking away seemingly oblivious to their 
 conversation. 
 ��������"It's not the first time something like this has 
 happened.. He apparently reacted to a .. vicious assault in 
 much the same way in the past and eventually came out of 
 it.. They're moving now.. To liaise with the American mental 
 health services.. to arrange for a temporary guardianship 
 order to be made out in your name.. If you'll accept that 
 responsibility?" 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"Good. The papers will be delivered soon.. Once you 
 sign them, I'll lodge them and you'll become his temporary 
 official guardian.." 
 ��������Deif squeaked and they looked around to see Fraser 
 uncurling, the wolf moving away, since he'd been trodden on. 
 Deif sat and his tail thumped madly on the floor as they 
 gaped at Fraser rising from the chair. Meg looked at Ray and 
 realised this wasn't something Fraser had done before. 
 ��������Then he was approaching and Ray was enfolded in a bone 
 cracking hug by a sobbing Fraser. He awkwardly patted and 
 stroked Fraser's back. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg watched Ray as he slept in her big bed, twisting 
 and turning, tangling himself up in the blankets. His 
 restless movements causing his pyjama top to gape open and 
 his pants to snake down his hips. 
 ��������So different from Fraser who spent most of his day 
 curled up in a tight ball in bed. His nights were spent in a 
 chair, watching Ray as he'd poured over Psychology and Rape 
 Counselling text books by the score, most if not all which 
 he'd hurled into the trash can in frustration, when 
 attempting to follow their advice lead to no change in 
 Fraser's condition. Whenever Ray through a book away, Meg 
 always waited till he stomped off to fetch them out, clean 
 them up and added them to the collection which was rapidly 
 filling a bookcase that used to hold all her nicknacks. 
 ��������Sometimes he'd go to the collection, pull out a book 
 and look through it again, if it went into the bin twice, it 
 stayed there. But lately Ray had taken to sitting opposite 
 Fraser and just talked, all night. 
 ��������He'd talked about his life, himself, his family, his 
 father, his failed marriage, his career. Meg totally re-
 evaluated him. Sometimes during the hours when Fraser slept 
 and they had nothing better to do they'd sit and discuss old 
 cases. 
 ��������Those pants slipped lower. One of his hands slid over 
 his body and she watched as he began touching himself in his 
 sleep. Something he did quite often she'd discovered after 
 investigating every time she heard him crying out in his 
 restless sleep. 
 ��������Not that every cry he made was one of self induced 
 solumbulistic pleasure. Many's the time she'd entered to 
 find him curled up around a pillow sobbing into it. Until 
 she'd inadvertently eavesdropped on one of his talks with 
 Fraser one sleepless night, to learn about the abusive 
 relationship between Ray and his late father, she had no 
 clues to the reasons for it. 
 ��������He'd caught her, in the room watching, flushing when he 
 realised she *knew* but nothing had been said. As she 
 watched him and listened to his murmurings she promised 
 herself, they'd talk about it. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg returned from taking Deif for one of his daily 
 walks to be handed a large parcel by the doorman. More books 
 for Ray no doubt. When she returned to the apartment she 
 found Fraser standing in the door of the bedroom watching 
 Ray sleeping. Instead of leading him away, she left him 
 there, curious to see what he'd do. 
 ��������She packed away the supplies while Deif bounded up to 
 Fraser. Fraser looked down at the Wolf, and when Deif went 
 to the kitchen Fraser followed to watch him nudge his food 
 bowl. Meg waited to see what he'd do. Then when he did 
 nothing, she opened up a cupboard making sure Fraser saw 
 where she stored Deif's food, before she fed the wolf. 
 ��������Deif appreciated it. Fraser moved away to collect a 
 piece of fruit then wandered back to his seat and sank down 
 into it to stare into space as he chomped away on his apple. 
 Meg sighed and for lack of anything better to do, pulled out 
 a recipe book and began going through it, planning the menu 
 for the next week. 
 ��������She marked four recipes and hunted down a note pad and 
 wrote down a list of ingredients to purchase the next time 
 she went shopping. She was looking for another recipe to add 
 to the menu when Ray wandered out of the bedroom, rumpled 
 and sleepy. 
 ��������She got a glass of water while he checked up on Fraser. 
 When he moved into the kitchen, she held out the glass, and 
 he collected it on his way to the kitchen nook. She dumped 
 the parcel before him and he woke right up. Ripping the 
 paper away, he revealed her guess to be right. It was full 
 of books. There was also a letter and thick file and a 
 number of envelopes. He read the letter through twice. 
 ��������"You've been waiting for this?" 
 ��������"Yes.. I tried ringing one of the sexual assault 
 support lines one night and they gave me a number for this 
 counsellor to talk too." 
 ��������"And she sent all these books." 
 ��������She picked one up and her brows defected. 
 ��������"He sent them. I've been in touch with him a few 
 times." 
 ��������"These are text books, for a psychology course, are you 
 intending to become a professional counsellor Vecchio?" 
 ��������"He said that since I've become Benni's Primary carer 
 it wouldn't hurt to get some sort of professional 
 qualifications. It certainly won't do any damage if I have 
 to make an application to extend my guardianship of Benni." 
 ��������"You don't think he's going to come out of it in a 
 hurry either, do you?" 
 ��������Ray sighed. 
 ��������"The problem is that we're dealing with an extremely 
 violent betrayal by someone he loved and trusted implicitly. 
 It takes time to heal wounds like that. When he's ready to 
 face it and accept help - I'll need to be ready to give him 
 the help he needs." 
 ��������He sipped his water and opened the file to study the 
 top sheet. Meg rose and moved to the counter to start 
 preparing coffee and breakfast for Ray. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg returned from a shopping trip to replenish the 
 supplies running desperately low, and was startled to find 
 Fraser up on his feet, standing in the bedroom doorway 
 again. He didn't react to her as she made several trips from 
 the apartment to the garage to collect all the shopping and 
 transferred it to the kitchen. On her last trip, she 
 collected the last bag of food and another large parcel and 
 envelope addressed to Ray. 
 ��������She left the parcel and envelope on the counter where 
 Ray would see them and set the bags down on the table before 
 she approached Fraser wrapping an arm around him and looked 
 into the room. Ray was sprawled on her bed, the blankets 
 tangled around his legs while his pyjama top had come open 
 exposing his chest, an arm was over his face, the other lay 
 dangling laxly over the edge of the bed. 
 ��������When she looked away it was to find Fraser looking at 
 her, his face unreadable. She gave herself a little mental 
 shake and lead him away, closing the door behind her, then 
 lead Fraser to the kitchen setting him at the table while 
 she unpacked the groceries. 
 ��������He reached out and pulled out a bag of dog kibble 
 rattling the packet. There was a panting, tail wagging Wolf 
 at his chair in next to no time. She watched as he moved 
 away to fill Deif's bowl, then hugged and petted the wolf as 
 the animal chowed down. Deif's tail beat a loud, thumping, 
 excited rhythm against the floor the whole time. 
 ��������She completed the unpacking, then left the man to 
 commune with his wolf and returned to the bedroom, slipping 
 quietly inside, silently closing the door behind her. 
 Creeping to the bedside she leant over Ray to carefully tug 
 his pyjama's back into order. He started stirring as she 
 buttoned them up, and lazily opened one eye, then jumped 
 half out of his skin when it sunk into his sleepy mind that 
 the Dragon lady was playing with his pyjama's. 
 ��������"I caught Fraser watching you sleeping.. Your shirt 
 was gaping open." 
 ��������He half sat up, looking around. 
 ��������"He's feeding Deif in the kitchen.. I just came to.." 
 She reached out and tugged the blankets up. 
 ��������"make sure you were covered up." 
 ��������"How long was he there?" 
 ��������"I don't know, I had to go shopping.. He was there in 
 the door way just watching you when I got back." 
 ��������"He's feeding Deif?" 
 ��������"He pulled the food out and spontaneously decided to 
 feed him and show him some attention. That thumping you can 
 hear is Deif expressing his pleasure with the attention." 
 ��������"That's a good sign.. He never showed any interest in 
 Deif before." 
 ��������"He's showing a little too much interest in you." 
 ��������"You don't have anything to worry about, unless he 
 shows interest in you." 
 ��������"Have you ever considered sleeping in sweats and Ts? 
 It's not the first time I've caught him doing it and your 
 top's come open every time - and those pants.. well, you've 
 almost lost them a few times.. ." 
 ��������"What?! Why didn't you tell me?" 
 ��������"Well I didn't want you to get nervous and leave it all 
 up to me.. He responds so well to you." 
 ��������"You should have told me earlier. You catch him doing 
 it again, make some noise, wake me up.. .or just leave him 
 alone.. and see what he does." 
 ��������"He doesn't do *anything*. He just stands there, 
 watching you .. . then walks away and either curls up in his 
 chair, or goes back to his bed and curls up." 
 ��������"To sleep, or just stare at the wall?" 
 ��������"Both, either." 
 ��������"Yeah, well if he does something else when he curls up, 
 then it's something to worry about." 
 ��������"Something else?" 
 ��������"You know.. Touches himself." 
 ��������"Ohhh.. " 
 ��������"He doesn't do that, does he?" 
 ��������"He doesn't even touch himself when he goes to the 
 bathroom." 
 ��������"Speaking of which, does he react to being bathed by 
 you?" 
 ��������"Does he react to you?" 
 ��������"He reacted once.. He started crying." 
 ��������"He just.. shakes when I do it." 
 ��������"No other reaction?" 
 ��������"None whatsoever." 
 ��������"You sure? He doesn't get.. turned on?" 
 ��������"Yes, I'm sure. He doesn't even react to me towelling 
 him down." 
 ��������Ray sighed. 
 ��������"Keep an eye out for a reaction like that.. Any sign 
 of interest at all is supposed to be a good sign." 
 ��������He rolled and picked up a thick tome from the floor she 
 hadn't noticed as he sat back up she say that it was a 
 psychology text book on the subject of sexual assault. 
 ��������"You should read this when I'm done.. The guy who 
 wrote it has worked with sexual assault victims of all 
 kinds.. Including ones who reacted like Benni." 
 ��������He found a page marked with a turned down corner and 
 opened the book. 
 ��������"Here we go.. Blah blah blah.. Good signs are 
 displays of spontaneous affection.. Hugs and crawling into 
 the carers bed to cuddle are all part of the process. It's 
 considered a really good sign when they touch their primary 
 career in a sexual way. Touching, kissing, and in a male's 
 case, getting an erection are all good signs." 
 ��������He looked at her over the bed and blushed at the look 
 she was giving him. 
 ��������"Perhaps. I should hire someone else to care for him at 
 night," she suggested. 
 ��������"No.. It says the primary carer should be someone the 
 victim trusts implicitly who isn't likely to reject their 
 needs for comfort, whatever level of comfort that may be." 
 ��������"And what are you going to do if he crawls into this 
 bed curls up and gets .. " she blushed faintly "hard on 
 you?" 
 ��������"What are you going to do if he does it to you? He told 
 me he was attracted to both of us." 
 ��������Her eyes widened. 
 ��������"He told you *that*?" 
 ��������"Yeah." 
 ��������"Well.. I think I can handle it if he shows 
 spontaneous attention to me, but can you?" 
 ��������"I'll deal with it if it comes up." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"I have to return to work." 
 ��������Ray looked around from his coffee making. 
 ��������"Translation?" 
 ��������"I have no leave left. I have to return to work." 
 ��������"Oh.. I thought you were making a hint." 
 ��������He returned to the coffee making. 
 ��������"They want to take Fraser and place him in a 
 Psychiatric facility." 
 ��������"Over my dead body." 
 ��������He joined her at the kitchen table handing her a cup. 
 She sipped at it and smiled faintly. It was *just* the way 
 she liked it. 
 ��������"They can't just take him and lock him up." 
 ��������"They can and they will. Unless you can have the 
 temporary order that made you his primary carer extended." 
 ��������Ray ran his hands over his head. 
 ��������"Has it already been 6 months?" 
 ��������"Yes."�������� 
 ��������"G-d, we're sunk.. He hasn't improved at all." 
 ��������"I've looked into what would be needed to get the bond 
 extended or made into a permanent one. To become a permanent 
 order, it has to be extended for another six months first, 
 and he'll be examined, we can apply for a permanent order at 
 that stage." 
 ��������"But how do we get the extension in the first place?" 
 ��������"Your studies into psychology will help.. How are they 
 going?" 
 ��������"I've got a certificate with High Honours, for 1st and 
 2cnd level psychology." 
 ��������"Already?!" 
 ��������"It's not like I've got all that much else to do. You 
 do all the cleaning, most of the cooking, take Deif for his 
 walks. There's nothing left for me to do, except make sure 
 he eats dinner and has a bath. I talk to him for an hour or 
 two and study. He just sits there and watches me, till he 
 gets sleepy. Then I put him to bed and study a bit more. If 
 I can get my level 3 certificate, I can get into the diploma 
 courses, and gain the certification I'd need to get into 
 professional counselling. And you should see some of the 
 courses they've got on offer." 
 ��������Meg almost smiled. Ray had developed quite an interest 
 in the psychological side of things. She made a mental note 
 to make a few enquiries about seeing if he could study 
 Criminal Psychology via correspondence. 
 ��������"If you get into a diploma course by the time we ask 
 for the guardianship to be made permanent it should make it 
 easy for us." 
 ��������"There is again. Us - We." 
 ��������"The extension will be under joint names.. Yours and 
 mine." 
 ��������"Can we do that?" 
 ��������"It shouldn't be all that difficult. It's no secret 
 you've been "Co-habiting" with me for the last six months.. 
 They'll come through, see two beds, wonder where the third 
 one is and never believe we've been sleeping in shifts." 
 ��������"So.. .how do we handle that?" 
 ��������"Well.. either find a bigger apartment, or.. we go to 
 bed.. together. Tonight." 
 ��������His eyes widened. 
 ��������"Any particular reason why *tonight* is the night?" 
 ��������"I'm ovulating." 
 ��������"I'm sterile." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"That's why I've got an *ex-wife*. I couldn't make a 
 mama outta her." 
 ��������"Are you sure the problem was yours and not hers?" 
 ��������"I spent 8 bloody months having my sex life ruled by a 
 thermometer a chart and a beeper.. Before I stomped it to 
 death when it went off in the middle of a stake out. No 
 joy." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������He sipped at his coffee. 
 ��������"Does that mean we aren't going to have sex tonight?" 
 ��������He spurted coffee everywhere. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Nine 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������Meg sat on the edge of the bed, sighing while Ray lay 
 sprawled over the bed, an arm over his eyes, red faced. He 
 couldn't believe it. He'd been occasionally fantasising 
 about being in bed with Meg for months, and the moment the 
 fantasy became reality, his body refused to play along. Or 
 to be precise, one particular part of it. 
 ��������"Sorry," Meg said. 
 ��������-You're not the one who should be saying it. I'm the 
 one who disappointed you- Ray thought. 
 ��������Then he sat up thinking - But there's more than one way 
 to skin a cat- 
 �������� Meg felt the bed moving and the mattress dip and there 
 were two hands on her back, running over it and exploring 
 it. 
 ��������{Mhmmm) 
 ��������Then the mattress was dipping behind her and those 
 hands were moving to stroke her arms and she felt his breath 
 on her neck. 
 ��������"I thought you said you weren't in the mood. 
 ��������"But you definitely are.. Relax.." 
 ��������His hands slipped under her arms, sliding around her 
 body and started roaming over her waist and then she felt 
 the warmth of his body at her back. One hand popped a button 
 or two, and the other slipped under he waist band and she 
 arched back as they moved in unison, slipping over her 
 breast and sex. 
 ��������{If you stop now, I'll kill you} 
 ��������She felt his body at her back, a little shudder racking 
 it and then his hand was moving over her and his fingers 
 slipped into her bra to start toying with her nipple, first 
 stroking then rubbing it between his finger's as he cupped 
 her breast. She arched her neck and felt and his hot breath 
 on her throat, . felt him give a shuddering breath as he 
 discovered how damp her panties were. 
 ��������He started to withdraw. 
 ��������"No.. don't stop." 
 ��������The hand at her groin moved and slipped under her 
 panties, then he was caressing her and she felt the bed 
 dipping, then he was sitting directly behind her, his legs 
 moving around hers wrapping around them, drawing them apart 
 with gentle insistence and she could feel the definite 
 evidence of the fact he was starting to grow aroused. �������� 
 ��������He began murmuring in her ear in Italian and drew a 
 moan from her as his fingers began to gently play with her 
 sex. 
 ��������Then his hands moved and they were sliding over her 
 body again. 
 ��������"I want to feel your body next to mine.. " He murmured 
 huskily in her ear as his fingers started working on her 
 buttons. His hands slipped over her body again, a quick dip 
 to her sex, a caress then his hands were moving back over 
 her body and he drew away, just long enough to pull her bra 
 away. She heard him muttering something in Italian under his 
 breath then they were together again, skin to skin, from the 
 waist up. 
 ��������Her hands went down to raise herself as his hands moved 
 over her skirt to slip it away then his hands slipped her 
 panties away. 
 ��������She felt him stiffen and groan against her throat as he 
 saw Fraser in the door way. Not realising what caused it she 
 started stroking his legs and he let out a deep moan as she 
 started moving against him. 
 ��������-G-d, do I tell her, or do I just.. Finish what I 
 started, and hope he leaves- 
 ��������The way she was moving against him made him forget all 
 his intentions and his body began moving against hers and 
 his hands moved over her body turning her head and covering 
 her mouth with his, kissing her deeply before his hands 
 slithered down her body then his fingers were moving inside 
 her making her writhe with pleasure. Her cries of pleasure 
 were captured and he didn't stop until she climaxed. Only 
 then did he pull away, drawing back and panting as he moved 
 back across the bed to kneel at the center of the bed, a 
 fine sheen of sweat covering his bare chest as it rose and 
 fell with every panting breath. 
 ��������Then she turned to crawl across the bed and reaching 
 for him. 
 ��������"Now I know you're in the mood," she said, the evidence 
 of the fact blatantly obvious even though he was wearing 
 those baggy pants. 
 �������� He shook his head and waved his hands around. She went 
 to her knees imitating his position. 
 ��������"No?! After that?!" 
 ��������He pointed at the door. She looked around and almost 
 shrieked in shock when she saw Fraser standing in the door 
 way. She hadn't even noticed the sound of the door opening. 
 ��������"I.. . think.. he's.. been there.. quite a while." 
 ��������With a hand to her chest, trying to slow the racing of 
 her heart, she studied Fraser. 
 ��������"I think.. . he's interested." 
 ��������"You think so.. I know so. He likes both of us 
 remember.. " 
 ��������"Take off your pants." 
 ��������He raised a brow. 
 ��������"Either he's going to join us, or he's just going to 
 watch." 
 ��������"That is so kinky." 
 ��������"Right like what you just did to me *knowing* he was 
 there wasn't."�������� 
 ��������"Hey, I didn't know.. " 
 ��������"Don't give me that.. That's what made you groan like 
 that and go all stiff." 
 ��������"You made me do that." 
 ��������"I didn't mean that sort of stiff - which you still 
 are.. So work out what you're going to do about it. Do we 
 have a party or a crowd in the bed?" 
 �������� Ray beckoned Fraser and slowly Fraser approached. Ray 
 and Meg crawled over the bed and kneeled on the end holding 
 out a hand to him, he took both hands and let them draw him 
 close then working together, they stripped him, slowly and 
 leisurely, with much kissing and caressing going on as they 
 did. 
 ��������When he was as naked as they, they moved back across 
 the bed, and shared looks. Meg's hand slithered over Ray's 
 body and touched him up, his hand slithered over hers. 
 ��������As they mutually pleasured each other, Fraser slowly 
 crawled onto the bed and across it. 
 ��������"Oh.. I definitely think.. he wants to join in." 
 ��������Two hands were extended and he was drawn in then Ray 
 was moving away, panting and drenched with sweat, trying to 
 control the urge to pounce on Meg as he watched her working 
 over Fraser. 
 ��������-God, this is so kinky.. Positively, definitely, 
 kinky.. I am such a deviant. I'm going to burn in hell for 
 this.. But ooooh, god he wants me to join them. What do I 
 do now?- 
 ��������The unasked question was answered by Meg and Fraser as 
 they both reached for him and pulled him back down to the 
 bed. The pants he still wore were soon fluttering through 
 the air to hit the floor and then there were four hands and 
 two mouths moving over him, driving him wild. He was pulled, 
 and rolled into Meg's embrace and felt Fraser rolling away 
 as her hand moved down his body to guide him home. He lost 
 himself, forgetting about Fraser as their bodies moved 
 together finding each other's rhythm and then Fraser was 
 back and he arched over Meg crying out as he felt Fraser 
 returning. Hands and mouths moving over him, legs, sliding 
 over and around his. Fraser's talented fingers and mouth 
 working in unison with Meg's. 
 ��������"OHMIGOD!" He cried and heard two satisfied little 
 growls. 
 ��������His cries echoed through the room as he was brought to 
 the most mind blowing orgasm of his life and passed out from 
 sheer sensory overload. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray stepped out of the shower to be offered a towel by 
 Meg who looked his dripping body over and smiled at him. The 
 towel hit the floor and they weren't too far behind. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Fraser sat in his usual chair, before the window, Deif 
 curled up at his feet sleeping when Ray walked in and set a 
 hand on his shoulder. 
 ��������"Sorry `bout leaving you alone most of the day, Caro, I 
 hope you're hungry," Ray said as he moved away heading for 
 the kitchen. 
 ��������Fraser climbed out of his chair and followed Ray. Ray's 
 first stop was the refrigerator, opening it to look inside 
 and Fraser peered over his shoulder, reached in grabbed and 
 apple and then walked away. Ray spun and watched him walk 
 away munching on the apple. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Meg was not having a good day. The replacement deputy 
 liaison officer was totally incompetent, she was snowed 
 under with work trying to sort out the trouble she generated 
 and missed Fraser's efficiency in the role. Then the mail 
 arrived. She was working her way through it when the phone 
 rang. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Fraser was sleeping, but Ray was awake when Meg 
 returned from work, late, he watched her approach with her 
 briefcase as he worked in the kitchen putting the final 
 touches to dinner for her. In this case a light salad with a 
 thick steak. She looked drawn and tired, but perked up a 
 little at the smell of the steak which was cooking as he 
 diced and sliced vegetables tossing them into a tossing 
 bowl. 
 ��������"Bad day huh?" 
 ��������"Fraser's replacement is totally incompetent. Worse 
 than Turnbull."�������� 
 ��������"Now that's bad. Maybe I can cheer you up. Fraser did 
 something spontaneous again today." 
 ��������"Oh, what?" 
 ��������"Well, first he followed me into the kitchen and got 
 himself something to eat." 
 ��������"An Apple?" 
 ��������"Yes, how.. ?" 
 ��������"He's been doing that for some time, that's why I 
 always make sure there's plenty of fresh fruit." 
 ��������"Oh, well, he did something else.. He bathed himself 
 and chose what he was going to wear without any help from 
 me.. And for a change, he didn't just curl up in his chair 
 through the day. He watched me studying and showed a 
 definite interest in what I was doing." 
 ��������"That's good isn't it?" 
 ��������"Yes. It's a definite sign of improvement. Cross your 
 fingers. If he continues to show spontaneous signs of 
 interest in his own well being and self image it'll prove 
 he's turned the corner and is on the road to recovery." 
 ��������Meg set her case on the bench and opened it. 
 ��������"It seems we have two things to celebrate." 
 ��������"Two things?" 
 ��������She pulled out a now familiar envelope and handed it to 
 him. He snatched it from her hands and ripped it open to 
 pull out his third certificate and a letter. He let out a 
 whoop when he read the letter. 
 ��������"You got high honours again, didn't you?" 
 ��������"Even better, they've sent my records to one of the 
 universities who have correspondence programs. I've been 
 accepted into a university run associate diploma course in 
 Psychology." 
 ��������"I've been meaning to talk to you about that." 
 ��������"Do you have a problem with it? Or is it because I'm 
 spending all my money on getting my text books and supplies 
 and not contributing to the household.. " 
 ��������"Nooo. I don't have a problem with it. Since I returned 
 to work, you've taken over all the household chores too.. 
 And you're a better cook." 
 ��������"Why thank-you." 
 ��������"And if you give me receipts I'll have your course 
 related expenses refunded, since it's directly related to 
 your care of Fraser." 
 ��������"So what's the problem?" 
 ��������"Well I made a few inquiries on your behalf." 
 ��������"What sort of inquiries?" 
 ��������"I couldn't help but notice that you've developed a 
 real interest in psychology, and I made a few enquires and 
 how to get you nominated for the FBI's profiling courses, 
 which would help to improve your career prospects. If you 
 continue your studies and take up criminology courses you 
 could be eligible. But that's immaterial. I've been looking 
 into the criminology courses available.. and written to the 
 relevant people about wether or not you could undertake them 
 by correspondence. I've explained the situation your in, 
 sent copies of your certificates and told them you were 
 studying to qualify to study at the associate diploma 
 level.. One wrote back.. I spoke to the Dean on the phone 
 this afternoon." 
 ��������"And?" 
 ��������"It was a Canadian college." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"But they have an excellent course range and a mature 
 age student scholarship programme, which the Dean thinks 
 you'd qualify for. If you pass the scholarship exam and 
 interview you could study criminology, general psychology 
 and sexual assault counselling there. They're willing to 
 come to an arrangement so that you can study part time, 
 doing the bulk of the course by correspondence. You'd have 
 to attend some classes.. but they have day care, and often 
 have parents with young children who bring them into 
 classes. They're a very progressive college. Since Fraser's 
 quiet and wouldn't cause a disruption, he could accompany 
 you and sit in or you could put him in day care when you 
 attend classes." 
 ��������"That would mean going to Canada to study." 
 ��������"Yes.. But the Canadian college has the most to offer, 
 taking up the course schedule they have would not only help 
 you to help Fraser but enhance your future career prospects. 
 I could get a transfer to a post near the college, the 
 Inspector there would like to come to the states, we could 
 swap places, which would give you a chance to take up the 
 offer.. " 
 ��������Ray mulled it over it while he splashed a little of her 
 favourite salad dressing over the vegetables and popped the 
 top on the bowl giving it a good shake. 
 ��������"I suppose if I agreed to that plan, it would really 
 help when we say we're a defacto couple. 
 ��������She took a deep breath. 
 ��������"I made a statutory declaration, declaring you as my 
 Defacto three days ago." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������It didn't seem to bother him all that much so she 
 pulled a sheath of papers from the case and held them up for 
 him to see. 
 ��������"There's a pile of paperwork to deal with as a result. 
 I have to start working on creating the right paper trail to 
 confirm my statement, that means, all entitlements that 
 would go to my partner on my death have to be transferred to 
 you, I have to revise my will.. I have to show *evidence* 
 that it's not just a ploy to make it possible to use your 
 temporary guardianship of Fraser to get a joint order. And 
 you have to do the same thing too." 
 ��������"They worked it out." 
 ��������"It's a pity your sterile.. It would have solved 
 everything if there was positive proof of a sexual 
 relationship." 
 ��������"If they could have heard going on about enhancing my 
 career prospects they wouldn't suspect you of having 
 ulterior motives for declaring me your Defacto." 
 ��������She smiled wryly. 
 ��������"Now all we have to do is convince them it's a real 
 relationship, that means making sure we manufacture all the 
 right official evidence." 
 ��������Ray served her meal up. 
 ��������"We can do that after you've eaten." 
 ��������He held out the plate waving it under her nose. She 
 took the plate and nibbled on a piece of lettuce as she 
 headed for the table. 
 ��������"If you're not careful, Vecchio, I might develop an 
 ulterior motive for declaring you my defacto that has 
 nothing to do with Fraser." 
 ��������"And I thought it was the way to a *man's* heart." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg took Fraser to the consulate with her the next day, 
 where the other staff, baring the new deputy liaison 
 officer, fussed over him all day. Ray for his part, slept 
 half the day away before spending the rest of the afternoon 
 running around taking care of paperwork, getting records 
 from the hospital and arranging to make a joint application 
 for Fraser's care. 
 ��������He also managed to fit in a visit to his mother to tell 
 her there was a possibility he might be going to Canada in 
 the near future. He wasn't surprised at being smothered with 
 maternal love and affection, or at being loaded down with 
 more frozen food than he could eat in a month, even with Meg 
 and Fraser's help. 
 ��������He took a trip back to the apartment, to place all the 
 food in the freezer and found a message from Meg on the 
 answering service telling him she'd be late again, and to 
 please come by the embassy ASAP and bring Fraser's 
 medication. He hit himself in the head for not remembering 
 to give Meg, Fraser's midday dose of the medication he took 
 morning, noon and night. He found the pill box and counted 
 out enough pills to cover the midday and evening dosage and 
 slipped the box into his pocket. 
 ��������Pills taken care of he set one of the preprepared meals 
 in the sink to thaw and made a quick check of the cupboards, 
 drew up a list of food to buy and was about to leave when 
 the phone rang. 
 ��������He raced across the apartment to answer it before the 
 answering machine kicked it, but didn't reach it in time. He 
 heard Meg's message kick in and snatched up the phone 
 cutting it off. 
 ��������"Meg?" 
 ��������"No. Who I am speaking too?" The caller asked. 
 ��������"Ray Vecchio, what's it to you?" 
 ��������The caller hung up. Ray wondered what it was about 
 while he switched the machine back on, and stopped worrying 
 about it when he saw the time. He rushed around, snatching 
 up the shopping list and keys running out. 
 ��������He reached the consulate in a new personal best time 
 and was ushered into Meg's office where he handed her the 
 pill box, and she handed him an envelope and gave him a very 
 thorough kiss right in front of Constable Cooper and the new 
 deputy liaison officer. They scuttled off, to spread the 
 news to the rest of the staff no doubt. 
 ��������Ray didn't look at the envelope till he returned to the 
 car and his eyes bugged out when he found that it contained 
 a cheque for several thousand dollars. He read the note 
 attached and was amazed to discover he'd spent that much 
 money on his studies. 
 ��������He made a quick trip to the bank to deposit the cheque 
 and make a large withdrawal, then he was off to do the 
 shopping, dropping into a computer shop on the way. He 
 walked out with a brand new laptop with a fax modem a pile 
 of programs, manuals and a flat bed scanner. 
 ��������By the time Meg returned with Fraser he had the laptop 
 and modem set up, and dinner sitting on the table. After the 
 meal was demolished, Fraser followed him over to the 
 computer while Meg took care of the dishes. 
 ��������Fraser nudged Ray away from the computer and began 
 tapping away. Ray let him play with the computer and joined 
 Meg in the kitchen. 
 ��������"A computer?" 
 ��������"For my studies. I can do my work on it and reduce the 
 amount of paper I waste writing up my notes." 
 ��������"And the scanner." 
 ��������"Well when I told the salesperson what I wanted it for, 
 he talked me into buying it. He said I could use it like a 
 photocopier. They had a special deal on, I also got a free 
 printer, but they were out of stock on those, it'll be 
 delivered here by courier as soon as they get some new stock 
 in." 
 ��������"Have you decided which course you'll undertake?" 
 ��������"It depends on wether or not we can get the care order 
 extended. If not, then we can't stop them shipping Benni to 
 a psychiatric hospital, and there's no reason for me to stay 
 here or continue my studies." 
 ��������He didn't see Meg's reaction to that as he turned to 
 set a plate aside. He didn't want to see her nodding, but 
 that's not what she was doing. 
 ��������-Don't agree with me- 
 ��������{Look on the bright side, at least you didn't make an 
 utter fool of yourself by declaring your undying love or 
 anything like that.} 
 ��������"Of course if the order is extended, then.. I'll 
 continue my studies. I talked to my mother about it today, 
 and.. I wrote to that college you told me about, asking them 
 to slot me in for the scholarship exams." 
 ��������"So you're thinking about going to Canada to study?" 
 ��������{Say yes, say anything else, and I'll kill you where 
 you stand.} 
 ��������"It would help Benni too, wouldn't it? And you'd be 
 able to spend a little time with your family. And being back 
 in Canada might be good for him." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Over the next week Fraser began to display more and 
 more spontaneous action, twice joining the Meg and Ray in 
 the bed they now shared. On the evening of the new week Ray 
 returned from a shopping trip to replenish their supplies to 
 find Meg and Fraser both dressed in Dress Red's their hands 
 behind their backs, just watching him as he carted in the 
 shopping and packed it away. 
 ��������"Planning to take advantage of his state to put him 
 guard at the door, milady?" he teased. 
 ��������He discovered a moment later that what they had behind 
 their backs was more than hands, they also hand cuffs. He 
 was marched off to the bed roof the have his wrists cuffed 
 to the bed posts, where Meg announced he had to be strip 
 searched for contraband and ordered the constable to proceed 
 slapping a pair of latex gloves into his hands. Fraser 
 snapped them on and gave strip search and frisk a whole new 
 meaning to Ray. 
 ��������What followed gave Ray a definite taste for Bondage and 
 being dominated by certain dragon lady and declaring that he 
 was most definitely Bi-Sexual making them laugh. Ray tossed 
 Fraser's medication for the day down the sink and celebrated 
 his improvement with a glass of champagne and a trip to an 
 expensive Italian restaurant. 
 ��������The trio was enjoying the night out until Ray noticed 
 someone at a nearby table was paying just a little too much 
 attention to them for his liking and cut the evening short. 
 ��������The next day, he opened the door at a knock to find the 
 same man at his door with a woman in a business suit 
 carrying a briefcase. They flashed their I.D and he let them 
 in to inspect the apartment. They interviewed Fraser, who 
 had nothing to say. Then they interviewed him. Midway 
 through it his watch started beeping and he excused himself. 
 Fraser disappeared into the bathroom and Ray followed him 
 in. He was praising Fraser when they left the room and moved 
 to the kitchen where Ray prepared lunch for Fraser while 
 Fraser sat himself down at the table to wait. Once he had 
 the simple meal ready he set it before Fraser who started 
 eating while Ray fetched his pills and a glass of ice water 
 to wash the medication down with. 
 ��������When he returned to the lounge he found one of the 
 officers writing in a note pad. 
 ��������"You have a regular meal schedule?" 
 ��������"For Benni, yes, he's got 4 different kinds of 
 medication he's gotta take, and it really should be taken 
 with meals and I make sure he gets a meal with all of them." 
 ��������"Snacks?" 
 ��������"Meg brings fresh fruit home every few days. When he's 
 hungry in between meals, he knows where the fruit is and 
 gets himself a piece." 
 ��������"I noticed you were praising him when you left the 
 bathroom." 
 ��������"Well, we used to have to do everything for him. But 
 he's started taking care of himself. I try to make sure he 
 knows I noticed and praise him whenever he does something 
 for himself." 
 ��������The note taking one's pen flew over the pad. 
 ��������They asked a few more questions about Fraser's general 
 care, inspected the office that had been turned into 
 Fraser's bedroom. Then while the female half of the team 
 tried to get Fraser to answer a few questions again, the 
 male half asked about their relationship. In particular the 
 sexual side of things, pointing out the fact he was listed 
 as Fraser's S.O in past medical records. 
 ��������"The last thing he needs sex. What he needs is 
 affection, to be shown he's cared for and cherished." 
 ��������"So there is no sexual relationship?" 
 ��������"That's right." 
 ��������Which in a manner of speaking was true, while Fraser 
 might join in on the foreplay side of things he didn't get 
 involved when it came to full on sex. 
 ��������"But there is a physical relationship?" 
 ��������"Any time he wants a hug or a kiss or to just be held 
 he knows we're there for him." 
 ��������"*We*?" 
 ��������"Meg too.. he's crawled into our bed a few times. He 
 likes to sleep snuggled up between us. The sexual assault 
 counsellor I consulted said that's a sign that he feels 
 secure and safe with us." 
 ��������"It doesn't affect your relationship with your 
 Defacto." 
 ��������"She feels the same way about Benni that I do." 
 ��������The officer asked a few more pointed questions, then 
 turned the subject to his relationship with Meg. 
 ��������"How long have you been a couple?" 
 ��������"We've been sharing the same bed for six months, give 
 or take a week," Ray said, telling the truth, without 
 mentioning that sharing meant, sleeping in the same bed at 
 different times for most of that time. 
 ��������"So your relationship began after you became Mr 
 Fraser's carer?" 
 ��������"Well... yes and no.. In a manner of speaking it began 
 while I was in hospital.. I almost died in a car accident 
 and she became a regular visitor.. And I had definite plans 
 to explore how far things could go after I got out, then 
 this happened to Benni, and when Meg made the offer to share 
 the burden of care with me.. things just... fell into 
 place." 
 ��������"I see and do you have intentions to make the 
 relationship official?" 
 ��������"Funny I thought we'd already done that by statutory 
 declarations regarding our relationship." 
 ��������"I meant, do you have plans to marry?" 
 ��������"Not at the moment.. I'm catholic, she's not, we're in 
 two different police forces. Benni isn't going to be a 
 zombie forever and when he's better.. I'll be returning to 
 my precinct.. Though, she's been talking about going to 
 Canada.. he thinks it would be good for both of us, meaning 
 Benni and I.. Him because it's his country.. And he'd feel 
 more comfortable there. Me because there's a college there 
 where I can continue my studies.." 
 ��������"Studies?" 
 ��������"In psychology.. I've been studying it by 
 correspondence, so I can help Benni.. I've already attained 
 the certification I need to start studying to gain an 
 associate diploma, and there's this college in Canada that 
 she sent all my certificates too.. They're trying to get 
 mature age students, and they can handle Benni tagging along 
 with me to classes and she can always rearrange her schedule 
 to take over when I can't." 
 ��������The officer asked a few more questions about his plans 
 for the future, studies and how he fitted them into his 
 duties as Fraser's primary carer. He didn't give any 
 indication as to wether or not they were acceptable and 
 finished the interview off by borrowing the phone to set up 
 a physical exam for Fraser before departing with his partner 
 to corner Meg at the consulate. 
 ��������She returned home in a state of high anxiety and they 
 spent the rest of the night worrying about their application 
 to care for Fraser being turned down all because he chose 
 the wrong restaurant to celebrate in. 
 ��������Meg was so tense she ended up throwing up her 
 breakfast, and if she could have trusted her deputy, would 
 have called in sick. Instead she left to go to work, while 
 Ray spent the morning pouring over computer manuals until he 
 heard the door open. He looked around to Fraser walking out 
 with Deif on his heels. Tossing the manual, Ray jumped out 
 of his chair, racing after Fraser. 
 ��������An hour later, Meg looked up from another mound of 
 paperwork to see a sheepish Ray peering around the door, 
 announcing he'd left the apartment without his keys. On 
 impulse Meg collected her keys and decided to take the rest 
 of the day off, she wasn't getting much in the way of work 
 done anyway. 
 ��������She joined Ray and Fraser, and made Fraser sit in the 
 back of the car with Deif. After lunch, they took Fraser in 
 for his exam and relaxed a little when the doctor announced 
 that he was in fine health. 
 ��������They returned to the consulate where Meg picked up a 
 pile of paperwork to complete at home and her car. They were 
 startled to find the Mental Health services officer on their 
 door step when they arrived, and Meg's anxiety levels 
 peaked. She managed to hide it well as she escorted him 
 inside, with the men and wolf on their heels. Fraser sat 
 himself down at the computer while Meg and Ray sat down with 
 the MHS officer. 
 ��������Nothing could wipe the smiles off their faces when they 
 were informed the MHS had no problems with extending the 
 order and making it an indefinite one. They considered 
 Fraser's care to be more than adequate and Ray's efforts to 
 educate himself to be a better Primary carer and future 
 plans didn't hurt. Neither did it seem did their unusual 
 relationship. The only thing that mattered was wether or not 
 they were giving Fraser the level of care he required and 
 they were satisfied he was getting a better level of care 
 under Ray and Meg's supervision than he would in a mental 
 hospital. 
 ��������Fraser's medication went down the sink again as they 
 celebrated their victory and Meg made two calls, one to the 
 consulate asking for specific papers to be brought to her 
 apartment, and one to Canada. 
 ��������"Are you sure you want to go to Canada to continue your 
 studies?" She asked Ray once the paper's were delivered. 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������She presented him with a pile of paper work and a pen.�������� 
 ��������"Then fill in this paperwork. The offer to swap posts 
 with me is still open." 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Ten 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������A week later, Deif went into quarantine and Ray sat in 
 his car with Fraser watching Meg give the removalists last 
 minute instructions, and making dire threats about what she 
 would do to them if anything was damaged. When she finally 
 the two men in the car they headed for the airport. 
 ��������"I've already made arrangements with a relator to begin 
 looking for a house that will be close to both the college 
 and my new post. He said there are six properties, that we 
 can occupy immediately that fit my criteria to look at, 
 we'll visit them all tomorrow. I'll take pictures and send 
 them to you via e-mail so you can look the properties over." 
 ��������"I trust your judgement." 
 ��������"Are you sure you won't come with me?" 
 ��������"I'm not going to be seeing my family for a while, Meg, 
 I think I should spend some time with them before I head to 
 Canada." 
 ��������"Perhaps Fraser should come with me." 
 ��������In the end after a discussion that lasted all the way 
 to the ticket counter, Fraser accompanied Meg on her flight 
 out and Ray returned home. Half way home, his watch started 
 beeping at him and he could have kicked himself for not 
 swapping watches with Meg. His was programmed to do more 
 than just beep when it was time to give Fraser his 
 medication. The tiny LCD display also listed what medication 
 he was supposed to have at those times which is why he'd 
 brought the high tech digital watch in the first place. 
 ��������"Oh, well, she's sure to ring me up when they touch 
 down to ask me what she should give him tonight." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray settled down on his bed, rubbing his temples, as 
 his head throbbed with what promised to become a doozy of a 
 headache. He was rolling over and opening the bedside drawer 
 to search for the pack of headache pills he kept there when 
 he heard Frannie shriek "Raaaay! Phone!" 
 ��������With a little groan he bolted up and raced out of the 
 room. He wondered who the hell was calling and glanced at 
 his watch before he raced down the stairs. By his estimates 
 Meg and Fraser should have set down in Canada by now, it was 
 most likely Meg ringing to tell him they'd arrived. He made 
 a mental note to discuss Fraser's medication and grabbed the 
 phone from Frannie as he came to a skidding stop by the 
 phone. 
 ��������"It's Fraser," Francesca informed him. 
 ��������"What?! Benni?? Is that you? Say something." 
 ��������"Meg." 
 ��������"What about her? Did something happen to her?" 
 ��������=Of course something happened, it's the first time he's 
 spoken in God knows how long. God, don't let her..= 
 ��������"Meg fainted." 
 ��������"What? Where?" 
 ��������"Airport." 
 ��������"Which one?" 
 ��������"Don't know.. They took her away." 
 ��������"Rrright.. O.K Benni, listen very closely, I want you 
 to think about this. Did you get on the plane?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"O.K.. Did Meg get on the plane?" 
 ��������Fraser had to think about that. 
 ��������"Yes.. but they took her away.." 
 ��������"She fainted on the plane?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Before or after it took off." 
 ��������"Before." 
 ��������"And they took her off the plane?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Great.. Look around and try to describe exactly where 
 you are for me, can you do that for me, Benni?" 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray's intention to spend time with his family went 
 right out the window. He managed to get Fraser to get an 
 airport official to come to the phone, and arranged to have 
 someone watch him. Then he tried to find out what happened 
 to Meg. He didn't get very far. He ended up throwing his 
 bags back into the car, and drove to the airport, with 
 Frannie. He collected his bags, opened his mouth and almost 
 warned her not to wreck his precious car, then the voice in 
 his head that he called the headshrinker piped up. Instead 
 of telling her to be careful, he told her to take care, that 
 he'd ring when he touched down, and raced off. 
 ��������He made it to the ticket counter in time to get a 
 ticket for a flight he just had time to check his bags in 
 for. He was settled back in his seat after the plane took 
 off and tried to ignore the tension headache that had taken 
 hold and made his head pound. Then he felt the seat move as 
 someone sat in the empty seat beside him. A little voice in 
 his head made note of the fact the seat hadn't been occupied 
 when the plane took off. 
 ��������He ignored it until a hand settled down on his thigh. 
 His eyes flew open and he looked around to be confronted 
 with the pale face of Meg. 
 ��������"Meg!" 
 ��������She put a finger to her lips and hushed him. He 
 remembered where he was and adjusted his voice accordingly. 
 ��������"What happened? I heard you fainted and when I tried to 
 find out what happened after that.." 
 ��������"They took me to the airport infirmary, I ate 
 something, and they let me go." 
 ��������"You fainted because you skipped breakfast?" 
 ��������"I think I caught some kind of bug, I've been feeling 
 off colour for the last week.. Or maybe it was just the 
 stress." 
 ��������"Tell me about it. I've got headache that just won't 
 quit." 
 ��������"Did you take something for it?" 
 ��������"I was about to when the phone rang and I was too busy 
 trying to work out how to find you and take care of Benni." 
 ��������She opened her mouth to inquire about him, but he beat 
 her to it, covering her hand with one of his own. 
 ��������"He's being looked after. He went on to Canada without 
 you. He's the one who called to tell me what happened." 
 ��������She looked at him in surprise. 
 ��������"Not that he was very.. helpful. I've had far more 
 erudite conversations with toddlers." 
 ��������"But he talked.. he hasn't done that since.." 
 ��������"I know.. I couldn't believe it when Frannie told me he 
 was on the phone. He is definitely turning the corner. The 
 next thing you know we're going to be wishing he'd shut up." 
 ��������Meg smiled. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������It took near on an hour and a half to sort things out 
 at the other end of the airport, finding Fraser, collecting 
 their luggage took up most of it. Fraser wasn't where he was 
 supposed to be, the official who'd been keeping an eye on 
 him having been called away to tend to some task. They 
 eventually found him at a newsstand sitting in a chair 
 obviously taken from the back of the stand, reading, and on 
 the counter beside him sat a pile of magazines. 
 ��������Fraser's face lit up when he saw Ray and Meg 
 approaching them. They discovered the magazines on the 
 counter had been chosen by Fraser. And Ray went through 
 Fraser's bundle while Meg paid for them. The budding shrink 
 in Ray found Fraser's choice of magazines interesting. They 
 covered a whole range of topics, from women's glossies, 
 decorating, cooking, pet care, two local magazines, three 
 true life crime & mystery pulp magazines, a science fiction 
 magazine, a renovators magazine, a bridal magazine and a 
 literary magazine. 
 ��������"Would you like a bag for those?" The stall worker 
 asked. 
 ��������Ray slid them into the bag the woman held open for him, 
 thanked her, kindly, saw Fraser give a faint smile and the 
 woman fluttered her lashes and gave Fraser a big smile. 
 ��������"Any time." 
 ��������Ray rolled his eyes and took Fraser's hand, leading him 
 away with a loud, "Come along, Amante," for her benefit. 
 When Meg caught up with them and wound her arm around his 
 other arm, she was chuckling. 
 ��������"So what did I just end up paying almost 50 dollar's 
 for?" 
 ��������"A very interesting range of magazines." 
 ��������Fraser freed his hand and took the bag to rifle through 
 it and pulled out the home decorators magazine to show it to 
 Meg. 
 ��������Meg took it and while they waited at the luggage 
 carousel she went through it. Fraser took to standing at her 
 shoulder and pointed to items that he found of interest. She 
 chuckled when he tapped the magazine emphatically when she 
 reached the SOHO feature and pointed at Ray. 
 ��������"Birthday soon," he said in a low voice. 
 ��������She gave him a dazzling smile and marked the page, 
 tucking it under her arm as Ray approached with three cases. 
 ��������"See something you like?" Ray asked. 
 ��������"In a magazine like this, there's always something to 
 like, the question is wether or not you can *afford* to buy 
 what you like in it." 
 ��������She slipped the magazine into Fraser's bag and went to 
 examine the luggage for her own and Fraser's. Ray found a 
 trolley and loaded his bags on it, before rejoining Fraser. 
 When he did, Fraser held out a magazine, folded open to an 
 article. Ray took it and looked it over, then smiled. It was 
 one of the true life crime stories, involving a police 
 detective using psychological profiling to catch a wanted 
 man of murderous inclinations. 
 ��������"So you understand why I came here with Meg?" 
 ��������Fraser's mouth opened, but he seemed to have trouble 
 expressing his thoughts, instead he tapped the magazine. 
 ��������"Learn to be like him." 
 ��������"Maybe." 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"No?" 
 ��������Fraser had trouble finding the words to express him 
 self and it showed. Ray stroked his arm. 
 ��������"It's o.k, Benni." 
 ��������"No.. It's not." 
 ��������"Relax, it's not the end of the world. You made us 
 happy just by starting to talk again." 
 ��������"Hard..words..express.. can't think straight." 
 ��������A beeping alarm went off and Ray slid back his sleeve 
 to look at his watch to see it was time for Fraser's 
 medication. He looked up to see Meg approaching with a 
 baggage handler pushing a trolley loaded down with luggage. 
 When they arrived he pounced on a bag and pulled out the 
 toiletries kit that held Fraser's medication. 
 ��������"We have to find somewhere to get a meal, it's time for 
 his medication." 
 ��������"Can't we just call room service and get a meal sent up 
 for him to take his pills with when we get to the hotel?" 
 ��������Ray studied her face, which if anything had only grown 
 more pale and drawn despite her pleasure at the positive 
 proof of Fraser's progress, then nodded. It wouldn't hurt to 
 put things off a little longer. 
 ��������A little longer turned out to be over an hour and a 
 half as they went looking for a cab during the shift change 
 over. By the time they got to the hotel and settled the 
 matter of a change in suites, everyone but Fraser was 
 grumpy. And it seemed as time went by Fraser grew more 
 animated as they got grumpier. 
 ��������They finally got their accommodations settled and Ray 
 asked if they could arrange for a doctor to pay a 'house 
 call' and after the duty manager promised to arrange it, Ray 
 sent Fraser up to the suite with Meg, while he made all the 
 arrangements for dinner. 
 ��������With the arrangements settled, Ray joined the duo in 
 the suite and found Fraser on the couch, reading a magazine, 
 and heard the shower. Leaving Fraser to his reading, Ray 
 joined Meg in the shower, more out of a desire to make sure 
 she didn't faint in the shower than anything else. He sent 
 her to bed wrapped in one of the hotel's fluffy towelling 
 robes, and then went in search of their bags, to find the 
 one holding Fraser's medication. He measured out a dose to 
 take into account the fact he'd missed medication earlier 
 and popped the pills into their cup before he checked the 
 bar refrigerator. The was the usual array of miniature 
 booze, cans of soft drink, snacks and two bottles of bottled 
 water. He pulled one out and found a glass and set it on the 
 table with Fraser's pills. 
 ��������He left Fraser reading his magazine, and returned to 
 the suite's main room to sit on the bed with Meg. They 
 talked about the improvement Fraser was showing until Fraser 
 poked his head around the door and told them there was 
 someone at the door. Ray went to answer the door and found 
 the Doctor and room service on the door step. He directed 
 the Doctor to Meg's room, and took the tray from the porter. 
 ��������Once he had Fraser seated at the dining table with his 
 meal, he returned to the bedroom. Fraser looked at his pills 
 then ignored them to begin demolishing his meal. By the time 
 Ray returned, Fraser had not only demolished his own meal 
 but made inroads on Ray's. 
 ��������"Who's hungry tonight." 
 ��������Fraser looked up a little guilty and stopped eating to 
 push the plate toward Ray. Ray pushed it back and noticed 
 that Fraser hadn't taken his medication. 
 ��������"Take your pills, Benni, and if you're still hungry 
 after you polish off my dinner then I'll order something for 
 desert when I ask them to send me up something else." 
 ��������Fraser looked at the pills again and then pushed them 
 away. 
 ��������"Pills are bad." 
 ��������Ray pushed them back. 
 ��������"The doctor prescribed them, if you don't keep taking 
 them they'll take guardianship away from us and put you in a 
 psychiatric hospital. You don't want to go to a nut house 
 again do you." 
 ��������A vague memory stirred, of being in a straight jacket 
 in a padded cell with Ray at his side struggling to get out 
 of the straight jacket he was in, and Fraser reluctantly 
 swallowed the pills. 
 ��������"Good," Ray said with a little nod. 
 ��������He watched Fraser start eating again and hunted up the 
 room service menu. 
 ��������"O.K we've got a few deserts on offer here.. Do you 
 want me to read out the list or should I just pick something 
 out for you?" 
 ��������Fraser just looked at him. 
 ��������"Alrighty, I'll just pick something out.." 
 ��������He left Fraser to his meal while he called room service 
 and ordered another meal and something simple for desert, 
 something he wouldn't mind eating if Fraser's appetite 
 vanished before it arrived. With that done he returned to 
 the dining table to watch Fraser eat and the budding 
 headshrinker in him started prodding Fraser, asking 
 questions designed to judge his state of mind. Fraser 
 expressed concern for Meg's health, and Ray assured him it 
 was nothing serious. Probably just stress. 
 ��������"I know how she feels.. I've got a killer headache." 
 ��������"Perhaps you should take something for it." 
 ��������"I will.. Later.. The doctor'll probably prescribe 
 something and I'll have to go and find a pharmacy to pick it 
 up, and I'll get something for my head ache while I'm there. 
 Now enough about me, how about you. How do you feel?" 
 ��������"Better." 
 ��������"As opposed to what?" 
 ��������"Before." 
 ��������"Before.. we got here, before you got on the plane, 
 before what?" 
 ��������That question was a little too difficult for the 
 befuddled man to comprehend. 
 ��������"I see.. hmm.. Do you understand what's going on? By 
 that I mean, why you're with us." 
 ��������Fraser thought about that and nodded slowly. 
 ��������"I've been sick... You and Meg have been taking care of 
 me," Fraser said, his speech becoming a little slurred. 
 ��������"Yes, that's right.. So you do understand what's going 
 on. That's good.. We had to convince the Mental Health 
 Department that we could take good care of you to be able to 
 keep looking after you. They wanted to put you into a mental 
 hospital and lock you up.. We had to convince them you were 
 better off in our care than you would be in a place like 
 that." 
 ��������"Is that why we came here? I thought.." 
 ��������Ray smiled reaching out to pat his hand. 
 ��������"It's O.K, we convinced them to let us keep you with 
 us. We didn't sneak away to keep you out of that place. 
 Though trust me, if they'd tried to take you away, I would 
 have done it. I knew you were getting better, locking you up 
 at that stage could have ruined all our good work." 
 ��������"I'm getting better?" Fraser asked. 
 ��������"Yes you are.." 
 ��������Something nagged at Fraser, but it was getting harder 
 to think straight and grasp the thought let along express 
 it. With some hard thought on the matter it came to him. 
 ��������"Is Meg pregnant?" Fraser blurted before the thought 
 could slip away on him again. 
 ��������Ray stared at him, then gave a sad smile and shook his 
 head. 
 ��������"No.. I think it's just all the stress catching up with 
 her. What she really needs is a break, but she's not going 
 to get one.. But now you're getting better, half the 
 pressure will be off." 
 ��������Fraser thought about it, with a confused little frown. 
 ��������"Are you sure she's not pregnant?" 
 ��������"Yes. Very." 
 ��������"Are you absolutely positive?" 
 ��������"*Yes*." 
 ��������He watched Fraser look toward the bedroom where Meg and 
 the Doctor were, concern etched on his features. He was 
 ready to stress the point further when Fraser looked his way 
 again, his mouth opening then the thought slipped away and 
 Fraser slowly closed his mouth with a confused look. 
 ��������Ray was about to continuing prodding Fraser when there 
 was a knock on the door and he left Fraser in his state of 
 confusion to answer it. The knocker turned out to have been 
 sent up with his meal and Ray collected it and as he walked 
 back to the table uncovering his meal and inhaled the 
 wonderful scent he mused that Fraser eating the first thing 
 he'd ordered wasn't so bad, this meal smelled even better. 
 ��������When he returned to the dinning Area he found Fraser 
 had left the table to stand before the window looking out at 
 the view of the city at night. With a rumble Ray's stomach 
 reminded him he hadn't eaten all day and he sat and managed 
 to get half the meal down before the door to Meg's room 
 opened and the doctor stepped out, closing the door quietly 
 behind him. 
 ��������Ray looked up and then pushed his plate aside standing 
 to join the doctor.�������� 
 ��������"How is she?" 
 ��������"Are you Raymond?" 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"She's fine, it's nothing that a little rest won't 
 cure," the doctor said pulling out a prescription pad and 
 tearing off the top sheet. 
 ��������"These will help with the nausea, make sure she takes 
 them at least 20 minutes before meals." 
 ��������Ray took the proffered prescription and tucked it away 
 in his pocket before escorting the doctor to the door and 
 pulling out his wallet. 
 ��������"I don't have any Canadian yet, we only just touched 
 down.. Can I pay with American?"�������� 
 ��������The Doctor quoted a fee and Ray paid it without 
 argument and sent him on his way. His meal remained 
 forgotten as he hurried back to the dining/lounge area and 
 tugged Fraser away from the window. He wasted no time 
 getting Fraser bathed and tucked into bed then he peeked in 
 on Meg to find her sleeping peacefully in the big bed that 
 occupied the main bedroom of the suite. 
 ��������A trip to lobby, a question and a taxi ride to an all 
 night pharmacy later, Ray returned to throw out the remains 
 of his dinner, put the desert into the refrigerator, and 
 downed two aspirins before he checked in on Fraser and Meg 
 again. Meg was still sleeping, though she'd flipped over and 
 was now hugging a pillow to death. Fraser had gone to sleep 
 and Ray smiled to himself when he saw that for the first 
 time in a long time, Fraser was sleeping in a bed alone 
 without curling up into a tight little ball. In fact he and 
 Meg had something in common, they were both hugging pillows 
 as they slept. 
 ��������Slipping into the master bedroom, Ray filched two of 
 the pillows and found spare blankets hidden in the wardrobe 
 that he carried out to the lounge. He tested the lounge 
 chair and found it held a fold out bed. In no time at all he 
 had the bed out and made and crawled under the blankets 
 ready to try and get some sleep himself. 
 ��������He tossed and turned restlessly for an hour before he 
 crawled out of the bed and crept through the suite into the 
 kitchenette to down two more aspirin. When he returned to 
 the lounge/bed he found that someone had crept out and 
 slipped under the blankets. it was hard to tell who, all he 
 could see over the top of the blankets were a few dark 
 curls, and both Fraser and Meg had dark hair. 
 ��������With a little shrug he climbed back into the bed to 
 settle down and a few moments later discovered the other 
 occupant of the bed was Fraser when the half doped Canadian 
 snuggled down at his side and murmured slurred endearment's 
 that made him chuckle softly as he started drifting off to 
 sleep. 
 ��������When he awoke Ray discovered there was more than one 
 Canadian sharing his bed, Meg had crawled in at some point 
 in the night and he was being cuddled on both side's by two 
 apparently very content Canadians if the little smiles on 
 their faces were anything to go by. 
 ��������"How anyone can smile after a night on this torture 
 rack is beyond me.." Ray grumbled as he tried to wiggle out 
 of the Mountie sandwich he was caught in. 
 ��������His efforts to slip away woke both Fraser and Meg. Meg 
 was the first and he noticed it. 
 ��������"How are you felling?" He asked solicitously. 
 ��������"Much better," she said as she let her hand wander over 
 his body. 
 ��������"And you?" 
 ��������Her hand wandered lower and another hand started 
 wandering over his back and he felt Fraser's breath on his 
 neck before his lips touched it. 
 ��������"Am I the only one in this suite who isn't feeling 
 frisky right now?" He asked. 
 ��������"You still have your headache?" 
 ��������"No.. After a night on this, that ache migrated to my 
 spine. And as much as I enjoy being a part of a Mountie 
 Sandwich.." 
 ��������His half heart protestations trailed off as Fraser's 
 hands moved over his back and neck, finding the tension 
 there before he started an expert massage. Ray almost purred 
 as Fraser's nimble fingers moved over his spine taking away 
 the aches and pains. But Fraser's hands weren't the only 
 busy ones. Meg's got busy too. 
 ��������Meg stopped and sat up to look at Ray when he suddenly 
 froze his eyes widening. 
 ��������"What is it? What's wrong?" 
 ��������Ray looked over his shoulder at Fraser who was close as 
 he could get. Then the Italio-American rolled and raised the 
 blankets to peek under them. 
 ��������"Ohmigod." 
 ��������"What is it?" 
 ��������Ray laughed. 
 ��������"Raymond Vecchio if you don't tell me what's going 
 on.." 
 ��������Ray looked at her. 
 ��������"Its Benni." 
 ��������Meg looked at Fraser who looked quite content to 
 continue stroking and kissing Ray all day. 
 ��������"What about him?" 
 ��������"How should I put this.. He's *very* interested in this 
 mountie sandwich idea." 
 ��������Meg frowned, then looked under the blankets and her 
 eyes widened. 
 ��������"Now might be a good time to get out of bed and let me 
 take care of him." 
 ��������Ray considered that, then nodded before he shifted 
 around to give Fraser a quick kiss. 
 ��������"Good morning to you too," he said, then switched 
 places with Meg before sliding out of the bed to head for 
 the shower leaving the Inspector to deal with Fraser. 
 ��������Fraser looked around, following Ray's movements with a 
 faint look of disappointment that Meg wiped off his face 
 while Ray took a cold shower. 
 ��������Meg jumped into the shower while he was in the bedroom 
 changing, and Ray was getting Fraser's medication and 
 breakfast sorted out while she changed. Meg slipped out of 
 the suite while he was occupied and it wasn't till late in 
 the day that she returned, while Fraser was taking a nap.�������� 
 ��������"Well, I hope your day was more productive than mine," 
 Ray said as he wandered into the kitchenette to make coffee. 
 ��������"Nothing happened?" 
 ��������"Not a thing. He didn't even talk to me, or show any 
 interest in his magazines either. All though he did pay 
 attention when I read an article or two from them to him." 
 ��������"He didn't try to get affectionate with you did he?" 
 ��������"Apart from this morning, no." 
 ��������"Good." 
 ��������"Maybe." 
 ��������"It won't be a problem after tonight." 
 ��������"Oh, why?" 
 ��������"The house has locks on every bedroom door, you can 
 look yours to keep him out while you sleep." 
 ��������"I can't lock the door, he might want to crawl into my 
 bed and snuggle up next to me." 
 ��������"That's exactly why you should lock your door from now 
 on. Today is *not* the first time he's shown a definite 
 interest in sex." 
 ��������"Are you talking about beyond.. foreplay here?" 
 ��������She nodded. 
 ��������"Why didn't you mention it?" 
 ��������"It never went anywhere." 
 ��������"Why not?" 
 ��������"Because he looses interest pretty fast, there are so 
 many ways to turn him off in an instant." 
 ��������Ray handed her a cup of coffee and hurried off to find 
 a note pad and pen before collecting his own coffee. 
 ��������"Do me a favour, think hard about it, and write down a 
 complete list of all the things you've noticed that turn him 
 off in an instant," Ray said handing her the pad. 
 ��������She nodded heading for the dining/lounge area with Ray 
 on her tail. 
 ��������"If you won't lock your door. Memorise this list, 
 knowing how to turn him off in a hurry might help you avoid 
 a situation you don't want to get into." 
 ��������"Meaning Fraser deciding he wants to have sex with me." 
 ��������"He decided that this morning. The question now is not 
 wether or not he's ready to go that far, but wether or not 
 you're ready to cross that line with him." 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Eleven 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 
 ����������������������������������������Part Eleven 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������They say the only thing that causes as much stress as 
 the death of a family member or loved one is moving house. 
 Which explained why Meg was grumpy as hell and his head ache 
 only went away when he downed at least four aspirin to hold 
 it at bay. 
 ��������On the other hand there were moments in time, small 
 moments at that, which put a smile on Ray's face. Like the 
 day he'd taken Fraser for a walk. Fraser had plucked a 
 flower from somewhere and watched him, walking along, 
 plucking the flower, muttering he loves me he loves me not 
 until there were no more petals left. The last petal had 
 been a "He love's me" one, and Fraser had spontaneously 
 grabbed and kissed him till he thought he'd pass out from 
 lack of air. 
 ��������And then there were times Ray just wanted to bang his 
 head against a brick wall. Fraser's improvement was on one 
 hand worth celebrating, and on the other, a little 
 frightening. He was childlike, except for one area, sex. 
 Since the move Fraser had grown more and more interested in 
 displays of physical affection. And on more than one 
 occasion responding to his need for it had lead to things 
 reaching the point where he had to choose wether to cross 
 the line or not. 
 ��������His decision was always the same, he wasn't ready to 
 cross that line, even if Fraser was. The funny thing was, 
 the more he rejected crossing that line with Fraser, the 
 more interested Fraser became in crossing it. In the end Ray 
 took up Meg's suggestion and started locking his bedroom 
 door when he went to bed. 
 ��������Of course Fraser got grumpy about it. Like a child 
 deprived of it's favourite toy. And it was at those times 
 Ray wondered if that was how things were going to be, if 
 Fraser was going to remain childlike for life, and felt like 
 bashing his head against a brick wall. 
 ��������He couldn't complain though. His studies were going 
 exceptionally well. He'd made friends with a number of 
 students who were studying the same courses, mostly younger 
 people who had found the fact he was a cop, and a detective 
 at that, to be awe inspiring. They were always asking him 
 about cases he'd worked on. He was keeping up with his class 
 mates in the psych and S.A.C classes, even though he did the 
 bulk of the course load at home. But when it came to the 
 criminology classes he was king of the hill, top of the 
 heap, or had been till he and the course instructor had a 
 very big disagreement in front of the entire class. 
 ��������He just couldn't back down, and neither would the 
 teacher, and it had been a rather ugly disagreement. Ending 
 with Ray telling the teacher to get out of his Ivory tower 
 and visit the real world sometime and walking out. He'd 
 apologised later to the frosty teacher but ever since that 
 day, no matter how hard he tried, how hard he worked, his 
 grades for the criminology class spiralled downward. Then it 
 came to the crunch, he had to do better than a pass mark, to 
 remain in the class, he had to get through the criminology 
 classes to make it into the profiling programme. If he 
 failed, he was not only blowing his chances to get into 
 profiling, but letting down Meg, and even Fraser. 
 ��������The scholarship, gaining his psychology diploma, 
 becoming a certified physiologist, it all hinged on his 
 being able to do well in his chosen classes, *all* three of 
 them. If he failed in one class, he'd loose the scholarship. 
 Without the scholarship he couldn't afford to remain and he 
 certainly couldn't ask Meg to cover his course fees. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg found Ray slumped on the love seat that was the 
 main feature of the large verandah that faced a view to die 
 for. She'd chosen the house for that view and the 5 rooms it 
 had. Now they all had separate bedrooms, and had converted 
 another into a study, the other into a library to hold Ray's 
 ever expanding collection of text books. 
 ��������She watched Ray and heaved a mental sigh. The move to 
 Canada was supposed to have improved their situation. She'd 
 thought it could only help - both Fraser and Ray. Instead, 
 while Fraser had improved, he'd also become definitely 
 grumpy. As for Ray he never joined her in bed any more. More 
 often than not she found him slumped at his desk, dead to 
 the world, with either a text book at his feet having fallen 
 from his hands, or the computer glowing away displaying some 
 text or another. 
 ��������When he wasn't studying, he was clucking over Fraser, 
 or had his nose buried in a recipe book. He'd started 
 preparing more and more extravagant meals and kept the house 
 so clean even a white glove inspection couldn't find a speck 
 of dust. 
 ��������The slim Italian grew slimmer with every day, he picked 
 at his meals, when he ate, he seemed to exist on coffee and 
 lots of it and had picked up the foul habit of smoking - 
 most likely at the college. She remembered the first time 
 she'd seen him smoking, it was outside the college, where he 
 and Fraser had been standing with a group of students, 
 mostly younger men and women. Ray had put a bit of distance 
 between himself and Fraser and had been puffing away with 
 the smoking half of the group. When she took him to task for 
 it, he'd snapped "you'd prefer I took up drinking instead?" 
 She hadn't said a word about his new habit since, other than 
 to ask him to refrain from smoking around her and Fraser. 
 ��������She wondered how everything had gone so wrong and 
 heaved another sigh. Ray looked at her, then his eyes 
 started roaming over her in a clinical fashion. 
 ��������"Fraser was right." 
 ��������"About what?" 
 ��������"You're pregnant." 
 ��������She flushed faintly. She still had her figure but she'd 
 already gone up two bra sizes and it showed. 
 ��������"Did you sleep with Fraser sometime I don't know 
 about?" 
 ��������"No. It's yours." 
 ��������"That's impossible." 
 ��������"When did you decide to start a family? Did you even 
 want to try at that stage, or did you start trying because 
 you thought it might save your marriage?" 
 ��������Ray looked away.�������� 
 ��������"It's a statistical fact that a great many couples who 
 try to have children when they're under stress fail - until 
 the stress is removed and they relax. But then again, most 
 couples in that situation break up." 
 ��������"I'm surprised you decided to go through with it." 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������"You don't need to do it any more. They gave us an 
 indefinite care order. You could have terminated when you 
 found out and I'd have been none the wiser." 
 ��������"Termination never even crossed my mind." 
 ��������"When did you intend to tell me?" 
 ��������"I've been trying to work out how, considering that I 
 knew what you'd say when I told you. Besides which the 
 Doctor says that unless I reduce the level of stress I'm 
 under I'll miscarry." 
 ��������Ray rose to his feet and Meg found herself being made 
 to sit down on the love seat. 
 ��������"You should apply for maternity leave."�������� 
 ��������"It's too soon for that and my work load is half what 
 it was in Chicago, the staff under me are extremely 
 efficient. I don't spend half my day's averting disasters, 
 most of the stress is a result of worrying about Fraser and 
 you." 
 ��������"Me???" 
 ��������"You're the shrink in training, psychoanalyse yourself. 
 I can't remember the last time I saw you eat a decent meal. 
 You seem to exist on coffee and cigarettes. Which by the way 
 is bad for the baby, second hand smoke can affect a child in 
 the womb." 
 ��������Ray pulled the packet of cigarettes he had out of his 
 pocket and crushed them. 
 ��������"That's a start. But unless you start taking better 
 care of yourself even if I can take this to term, you won't 
 be around to see your child born." 
 ��������Ray looked away. 
 ��������=As if you'll want me around when you find out I lost 
 my scholarship and had to drop out.= 
 ��������"I don't understand you at all. Fraser is getting 
 better, and you're acting like the end of the world is 
 nigh." 
 ��������"He's not getting better." 
 ��������"How can you say that? He's improved drastically over 
 the way he used to be. He talks now." 
 ��������"The average toddler could hold a more intelligent 
 conversation than he can." 
 ��������"It's a start.. He's also more active.. And I think 
 he's grumpy because he's frustrated." 
 ��������=It's called sexual frustration= 
 ��������"He tries so hard to find the words to express himself 
 but he can't seem to do it, and he gets frustrated when that 
 happens and he can't express what he wants to, and that 
 makes him grumpy." 
 ��������Ray jumped up moving away, then spun to face her. 
 ��������"Do you think I haven't tried to help him break the 
 communication barrier, do you think I haven't tried re-
 education, teaching him how to express himself. Face up to 
 it, Dante didn't just mess up his mind, he left Benni Brain 
 Damaged. He's never going to get better, what you see is 
 what you get. And all the wishes and hopes in the world 
 aren't going to change that," Ray snapped before he stomped 
 off. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg despaired of Ray changing his ways when she found 
 him slumped asleep in the chair of his office. The soft glow 
 of the computer screen attracted her attention. She saved 
 the file he was working on without looking at it and 
 switched the machine off. Then her foot kicked something. 
 She went down on her hands and knees to pull a stenographers 
 note pad out from under the desk. Half its pages were 
 covered with notes. 
 ��������She was about to flip it closed when she realised all 
 those notes were related to Fraser. She went through it 
 seeing that he was keeping very clear and concise notes, 
 sequentially dated, about Fraser's condition, what he ate, 
 drank, what pills he took, what he did or didn't do. What 
 he, Ray, had done for him during the course of the day, What 
 she, Meg had done for him. At the bottom of each page was a 
 0 to 10 scale each scale was marked with a red circle around 
 the zero. 
 ��������In curiosity she flipped through to the last page, then 
 flipped back two to find the day's date. The first page was 
 filled with his notes on Fraser's state, the next two were 
 covered with notes of a different kind. He'd turned Fraser 
 into a patient, the notes were his analysis of Fraser's 
 state and what needed to be done to improve it. There was a 
 list at the bottom of the last page. 
 ��������Take Fraser to Doctor for physical 
 ��������Put Fraser on diet 
 ��������Design exercise regime 
 ��������Find Magazines and spend an hour reading to Fraser, 
 morning and afternoon. 
 ��������Involve Fraser in activities that involve Deif, walks, 
 brushing down, bathing and feeding. 
 ��������She flipped to the last page and found Ray's plan 
 involved trialing a plan to break Fraser of his dependence 
 on himself and her. She tore a page out and made a few notes 
 for herself and tucked it away in her pocket before she set 
 the note pad aside and got the sleepy Italian up to his 
 feet. Half leading, half dragging him through the house, she 
 got him into the bedroom and tucked him into bed before she 
 returned to the office to start going through the drawers. 
 There she found what she was looking for. 
 ��������Turning his computer on, she opened the account keeping 
 programme and then began sorting through the collection of 
 receipts and notes Ray had made keeping track of all the 
 things he'd brought for Fraser. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray sat Fraser down on a chair in the kitchen where he 
 made a big deal of ripping up every recipe he'd collected 
 for meals he thought Fraser would like. 
 ��������"That's the last time I cook any of that." 
 ��������Then he went through the cupboards and refrigerator 
 throwing out all the ingredients for those meals which he 
 couldn't use in other recipes. Then he pulled one of 
 Fraser's women's magazine from under his coat and waved it 
 before his face. 
 ��������"You see this. You chose this. I don't know what it was 
 that interested you about it. But there is something that 
 interests me in it," Ray said, then poked Fraser in the 
 belly. 
 ��������"Recipes for Lo-fat meals. Which is all you're going to 
 get from now on. You're getting pudgy because you don't get 
 enough exercise." 
 ��������The Ray whirled and using the magazine as a guide, 
 collected all the ingredients he needed to start a meal. 
 ��������"The Doctor says you need a lo-fat diet and more 
 exercise so that's what you're going to get. Tomorrow you're 
 going to meet your new carer, she's going to look after you 
 during the day. I've got to do a lot of shopping. I'd take 
 you with me, only it's too embarrassing to take you out into 
 the real world." 
 ��������Following the instructions he got the meal started, 
 then marked the page before he fetched another chair and sat 
 opposite Fraser and flipped to the first article in the 
 magazine and started reading it aloud for Fraser. 
 ��������He marked the page he was on when the timer went off 
 and served up the meal taking Fraser through to the eating 
 nook and left him there while he collected a glass of water 
 and Fraser's pills. 
 ��������He sat beside Fraser and counted out pills. 
 ��������"The doctor told me to toss most of your pills. He said 
 they were what left you feeling confused and gave you 
 trouble trying to think straight. That was the sort of 
 medication they use in psychiatric hospitals to turn 
 patients into good little zombies. Your system got used to 
 them, and they started loosing their effectiveness, that's 
 why you started to get your wits back. These pills are 
 different, well most of them are.. Now we've got vitamins, 
 mostly, two different kinds of anti-depressants and a 
 sedative, and you only get the sedative if you can't sleep 
 or have one of your fits." 
 ��������He got Fraser to take his pills then fed him and took 
 him through to the bathroom to clean him up and started his 
 toilet retraining. 
 ��������When Meg returned she found them in the lounge, with 
 Fraser dressed in baggy sweats while Ray directed him 
 through some easy exercises. She left him to it and checked 
 the refrigerator and instead of finding a meal prepared for 
 her just waiting to be eaten, or popped into the microwave, 
 she found the refrigerator was mostly empty. All that was 
 left was a few vegetables, a piece of fruit, milk, juice and 
 bottled water. 
 ��������She went through the cupboards and found they'd been 
 half emptied too. After exploring what was available, she 
 collected her keys and went back out to drive away. 
 ��������Ray finished with Fraser's exercise then called Deif 
 and fetched his brush, making Fraser help him brush the 
 beast down. 
 ��������When Meg returned an hour and a half later, Fraser was 
 tucked into bed, and Ray was seated beside it reading from a 
 magazine. 
 ��������He joined her in the kitchen half an hour later, to be 
 presented with a plate of steaming Pasta and a glass of 
 juice. She watched him wolf the meal down and go hunting for 
 more. 
 ��������"That's it." 
 ��������"You didn't make any more?" 
 ��������"I hunted down an Italian restaurant and got your 
 favourite meal as take away. If you want more you'll have to 
 make it yourself." 
 ��������He wandered away, and she started doing the dishes. He 
 returned with a note pad, a pile of magazines and book. 
 While she cleaned up in the kitchen he sat in the nook, 
 going through them making notes. When she was finished in 
 the kitchen she made coffee for two and joined him in the 
 nook. 
 ��������"So how was your day?" 
 ��������"Busy. I took Fraser to the doctor, he's going on a 
 diet and exercise plan" 
 ��������He showed her the book. 
 ��������"He loaned me this book." 
 ��������She took it and flipped through it, finding it full of 
 recipes for healthy meals, directions on how to care for a 
 brain damaged patient, and exercises for passive patients. 
 ��������"I'm going to be pretty busy tomorrow, I've got to go 
 shopping tomorrow and get some exercise equipment, and stock 
 up on the right foods. Try to find a copy of that for 
 myself, since he wants it back... Then I'll probably spend 
 the afternoon in the kitchen cooking till I've stocked the 
 freezer with enough food to keep him going for a month." 
 ��������"What about your classes?" 
 ��������Ray looked into his coffee cup. 
 ��������"I quit." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"I don't see the point in continuing." 
 ��������"No point!" 
 ��������"What's done is done." 
 ��������"I don't believe this, I came here to make it easy for 
 you to carry out your studies without interfering with your 
 care giving duties." 
 ��������"You were the one who reamed me out for not taking 
 better care of my self. Well I re-evaluated things, like 
 what's important. And what's important here, is Fraser, and 
 making sure you have no reason to get stressed out and lose 
 Fraser's kid." 
 ��������She wanted to deck him, her fingers curled up and it 
 took a conscious command to her hand to make it relax. 
 ��������"By the way.. I was wrong, about Benni.. He's not brain 
 damaged. The doctor I took him too ran all sorts of tests. 
 He said it was the medication he was on and that the reason 
 Fraser started to improve was that he'd grown used to the 
 medication and his body needed more to keep him zombiefied 
 the way he was." 
 ��������"No more medication?"�������� 
 ��������"Oh, no.. He's still gotta lot of pills to take.. But 
 these ones are different. they're not supposed to make him 
 docile and passive, and they'll help him through the 
 withdrawal period without going nuts on us. I also spoke to 
 the doctor about getting someone else in to look after 
 Fraser during the day. He's got into a routine, we have to 
 break it and provide the right sort of stimulus to bring 
 back the man he used to be." 
 ��������"You're going to need money to cover all this." 
 ��������"Yeah." 
 ��������She handed him a bank cheque for a thousand dollars. 
 ��������"I opened up an account at that bank, it's near the 
 college. They should have a cheque book and a key card for 
 you by the end of the week. In the mean time that should 
 cover things. If you need more just let me know." 
 ��������Then she handed him another cheque. 
 ��������"What's this for?" 
 ��������"I went through your desk last night. You should keep 
 better track of what you spend directly related to Fraser's 
 care and your studies - since that is directly related to 
 Fraser's care too. You've got an account keeping programme 
 on your computer. I was up half the night getting all those 
 
 receipts in order and calculating what you've spent.. From 
 now on you give me the receipts and I'll keep track of your 
 expenses." 
 ��������"Oh.. Thank-you.. I keep meaning to do it myself, but 
 there's just so much work to do that I never got around to 
 it. I did try to keep track of everything." 
 ��������"You did a reasonable job of it." 
 ��������"I did a lousy job." 
 ��������She reached out taking his hand. 
 ��������"I want you to rethink your decision to quit your 
 studies, Raymond. Especially in light of the fact you've 
 arranged for a part time carer. We can schedule things so 
 that he or she or I can care for Benton when you have to 
 attend classes or need to devote more time to studying." 
 �������� He shook his head. 
 ��������"It's not that.. Like you said. I gotta start taking 
 better care of my self, and something had to give. I chose 
 to give up the thing that was causing me the most stress. 
 Those correspondence courses were easy compared to what I've 
 been studying here." 
 ��������"I never figured you for a quitter." 
 ��������His eyes flashed. 
 ��������"I am not a quitter." 
 ��������"No.. It sounds as if that's what you're becoming. You 
 were ready to give up on Fraser. You quit your studies 
 because they're harder than you thought they'd be." 
 ��������He yanked his hand away, or tried to. She wouldn't let 
 him do it, wrapping her other hand around his. 
 ��������"Something has been eating away at you for weeks now. 
 And don't tell me it's just the sheer hard work. You 
 wouldn't turn down my offer to look after Fraser to give you 
 more time to study if it was." 
 ��������He sighed, looking away. 
 ��������"Tell me what it is.. Maybe I can help." 
 ��������"You can't help." 
 ��������"You never know.. Perhaps.." 
 ��������"I lost the damned scholarship." 
 ��������She sat right back, that being the last thing she 
 expected. 
 ��������"What?! But you were doing so well." 
 ��������"Yeah right.. I'm not cut out to be a student.. I could 
 hold my own in the psych and SAC courses, but I was never 
 considered anything but an average student in those 
 classes." 
 ��������"But you told me your mid term exams results put you in 
 the top five student category." 
 ��������"And I studied like crazy to get those results, but it 
 just came easy to the others.. Hell I remember one of the 
 guys going on about how all he does at night is play music 
 with his band or party all night.. And he got the top 
 marks.. Me, I had to knock myself out to get the marks I 
 got." 
 ��������"You didn't have to knock yourself out in the 
 criminology classes.. that should have come easy.." 
 ��������He gave a very deep sigh. 
 ��������"Don't tell me you had trouble in that class I won't 
 believe it." 
 ��������"I failed the exams.. I had the lowest grades in the 
 whole class.. And I lost my place.. When I lost that, I lost 
 the scholarship." 
 ��������"I don't believe it.. How could you fail in 
 *Criminology* of all things. You must know most of the 
 subject material back to front." 
 ��������"I do.. That's why I failed.. I had it out with the 
 teacher in front of the whole class because what he was 
 teaching them was dead wrong.. He was feeding the same pile 
 of garbage that got drummed into my head at the police 
 academy." 
 ��������"And that makes it wrong." 
 ��������"The stuff he was blathering on about was dead wrong. 
 They stopped teaching it at the academy years ago for that 
 reason. I corrected him and he didn't like that.. Or back 
 down.. He's been making me pay ever since.. It wouldn't have 
 mattered if I'd blitzed that exam, and I probably did, he 
 had no intentions of giving me a passing mark." 
 ��������"Appeal." 
 ��������"What's the point?" He asked with a little snort, "It's 
 his word against mine, and he's the *expert*." 
 ��������"Wrong.. You're the expert. You're the one who's been 
 out there, *doing* the things he only knows about through 
 books and lectures. You're the one who has *practical 
 experience* over theoretical knowledge. It makes no sense 
 for a man with your experience to fail that class. If you 
 make a complaint and demand an investigation, I'm sure 
 they'll take it seriously and look into it." 
 ��������"There is no point. I wouldn't go back to those classes 
 even if they made him beg for forgiveness." 
 ��������She studied him and knew it was a point he wouldn't 
 budge on. 
 ��������{If you won't stick up for yourself, then I guess it's 
 my turn to kick a little butt} 
 ��������She produced an airline ticket and waved it before his 
 eyes. 
 ��������"What..?" 
 ��������"The semester is over soon. I thought it was the best 
 time for you to take a holiday.. A break from your studies 
 and caring for Fraser. You were going to spend a week with 
 your family.. Before you joined us here.. I think you should 
 go home, back to Chicago and relax, forget about your 
 studies, Fraser, me.. You need this - and don't tell me 
 otherwise.. I'm sure your mother will take one look at you 
 and shriek about how thin you are." 
 ��������"And you shouldn't have to take care of Fraser when 
 you're in a delicate condition." 
 ��������"I'll have that carer you found to share the load with, 
 and take Ben with me when I got to work. I've done that 
 often enough during your exams to know he's no bother. He 
 seems quite content to sit in an office with a pile of files 
 sorting everything into alphabetical order," she said and 
 pressed the ticket into his hand. 
 ��������"You've got a week to think it over. I think you should 
 return, if for no other reason than to get your car, I know 
 you hate having to get around in Taxi's. It will save us a 
 lot of money in the long run if you have your own vehicle 
 again." 
 ��������He gave a little sigh and she tried not to smile, 
 knowing she'd won the battle with her last argument. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray sat on the grass watching Fraser play with Deif in 
 the secluded patch of forest he'd spent the last three hours 
 driving Meg's car to reach. Fraser reacted so much better 
 when he took him into a wilderness area. He seemed to relax 
 and enjoyed himself. But for some reason, Fraser didn't seem 
 to be enjoying himself as much today. 
 ��������His game with Deif was half hearted and it seemed even 
 the wolf sensed it. In no time at all Deif was curling up at 
 Ray's side with a little whine. Ray gave him a scratch 
 between the ears and watched Fraser approach to drop down 
 onto the picnic basket beside him. 
 ��������"What's the matter Benni? Not feeling well?" 
 ��������"You're leaving." 
 ��������Ray started. 
 ��������"Going home.. To Chicago." 
 ��������"Where did you..?" 
 ��������"I saw the ticket." 
 ��������"Oh.. Well.. Meg got that for me, she thinks I should 
 take a break, a holiday, to recharge my batteries.. Before 
 the baby comes along." 
 ��������"Baby?" 
 ��������"Yes.. Baby.. She's pregnant." 
 ��������Fraser's eyes lit up. 
 ��������"A baby.." 
 ��������"Yes.. Meg is going to have a baby." 
 ��������"You're going to be a daddy.. I think you'll be a good 
 father." 
 ��������Ray laughed and swatted him. 
 ��������"Trust me, Benni, the kid's yours." 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"It can't be mine." 
 ��������"You have sex with Meg. The baby is yours." 
 ��������"I'm not the one who goes creeping into other people's 
 beds when he's feeling lonesome." 
 ��������Fraser blushed a little. 
 ��������"There is an old saying.. The spirit is willing, but 
 the flesh is weak." 
 ��������"And what is that supposed to mean?" 
 ��������"That the baby is yours." 
 ��������"Uh-uh, no way." 
 ��������"I did not and have not.. had sex with Meg." 
 ��������"Never?" 
 ��������"Not the sort that produces babies." 
 ��������Ray looked at him for a very long time. 
 ��������"Meg does not want to cross the line with me." 
 ��������Ray's brows defected. 
 ��������"And neither do you.. I was grumpy about that, but I 
 understand it now.." 
 ��������"You do?" 
 ��������Fraser looked off into the distance. 
 ��������"Have I thanked you for taking me to the doctor and 
 getting me off those horrible pills that made it so hard for 
 me to think straight." 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"I still have trouble...but it is easier now. I can 
 express myself." 
 ��������"I noticed.. Taking you to that doctor was the smartest 
 thing I've done in a while." 
 ��������"You are the best friend I've ever had." 
 ��������Ray smiled. 
 ��������"Or will ever have." 
 ��������"Thank-you." 
 ��������Fraser looked at him, then slowly started leaning 
 toward him. Ray made no move to draw away, and when Fraser 
 kissed him, he wrapped a hand around the back of his skull 
 tangling his fingers in his hair returning the kiss. One 
 kiss lead to another which lead to other things, which lead 
 to Ray being grateful he'd chosen a very secluded patch of 
 wilderness as he let Fraser strip away his clothes to 
 worship his body from head to toe. 
 ��������He let his friend and lover use his hands and mouth to 
 bring him pleasure and then returned the favour much to 
 Fraser's delight and pleasure. When it was over he looked 
 down at Fraser lying bonelessly on the blanket with a look 
 of such utter contentment and bliss on his face that any 
 misgiving's he'd had, when he'd elected to explore taking 
 things further, bit the dust. 
 ��������He wasn't sure how far he was willing to go, but he was 
 sure as hell willing to give Fraser the chance to show him 
 just how good it could get. 
 ��������He leaned over his blissful partner and kissed the tip 
 of his nose, making Fraser open his eyes. 
 ��������"You can say I love you that way anytime, Benni." 
 ��������Fraser smiled and pulled his head down for a kiss. Ray 
 was the one to break it up and toss his clothes at him. 
 ��������"Meg's part of my life too now.. So if you're still 
 feeling frisky, wait till we get home so we can get frisky 
 with her, hmm." 
 ��������Fraser dressed with a nod and Ray scrambled into his 
 own clothes. 
 ��������"I forget to ask if.. you're O.K with that 
 arrangement." 
 ��������"You mean.. a menage a trois." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"I have no problems with it." 
 ��������"Good. Because I'd hate to have to chose between you, I 
 don't know if I could make a choice like that any more," Ray 
 admitted, then leaned over Fraser to give him another kiss. 
 �������� 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 �������������������������������� Part Twelve 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 �������� 
 ��������Fraser sat on Ray's bed, watching him pack for his 
 break away. 
 ��������"You and I are going to have a lot to talk about when I 
 get back Benni. I'll give you a note pad before I go, I want 
 you to use it. Write down anything you dream about. And 
 anything that comes up that you want to talk about." 
 ��������Fraser nodded slowly. Ray tossed his toiletries pouch 
 into the case along with the latest psychology text book 
 he'd acquired. The one he was in the middle of reading was 
 tucked into his carry on luggage and both bags were closed. 
 ��������"And stay out of trouble. Meg's in a delicate 
 condition, she doesn't need any more stress at the moment." 
 ��������"Yes, Ray." 
 ��������Ray's watch beeped at him. 
 ��������"Time to wash up." 
 ��������Fraser jumped up and headed for the bathroom. Ray 
 collected his bags and carried them out to place them near 
 the front door, ready for the next morning. He was in the 
 middle of selecting a meal for the day when he heard the 
 phone ringing. The answering machine kicked in as he rushed 
 through the kitchen and he stopped with his hand hovering 
 over the hand set as he listened to Meg's voice tell the 
 caller to leave a message after the beep. When he heard 
 Meg's voice again he turned off the machine. 
 ��������"You've got perfect timing, Meg, I was just about to 
 get started on dinner." 
 ��������:"Don't prepare anything for me," Meg said.: 
 ��������"Oh. Are you feeling queasy again?" 
 ��������:"No, something's come up here, and it looks like I'm 
 going to be here for a while. I don't know when I'll be 
 getting home.": 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������:"I didn't want you to waste food or wait up for me.": 
 ��������-Well there go my plans for the evening- 
 ��������"Are we talking an hour or two here or.." 
 ��������:"Possibly longer. Don't worry about preparing 
 something for me, I'll have dinner here. I sent Constable 
 Williams out to get take away.": 
 ��������"Oh, well.. I don't suppose you'd be back before Benni 
 drops off will you?" 
 ��������:"I doubt it.": 
 ��������-Scratch that plan- 
 ��������:"Don't worry, I'll be bringing him in with me in the 
 morning. Don't forget to set your alarm, your flight leaves 
 at Ten, I've already booked a taxi for you. It'll be 
 arriving at quarter to nine.. That should get you to the 
 airport in time. Don't forget to get your left over US funds 
 from the safe...": 
 ��������Ray listened to Meg prattle on about what he should and 
 shouldn't do and a wicked impulse struck him. 
 ��������"Are you alone right now?" 
 ��������"For the moment." 
 ��������"You realise you spoiled my plans for the evening." 
 ��������"Plans? What plans? You didn't mention any plans." 
 ��������"That's because I only came up with them this 
 afternoon. And Benni and I both agreed there's someone else 
 in this house who deserves a little attention." 
 ��������"Ooooh." 
 ��������"Mhhhm.. You." 
 ��������"Oh and just what did you have in mind?" 
 ��������Ray began telling her in great detail his voice 
 dropping to a seductive little purr, his detailed 
 descriptions peppered with the occasional bout of Italian 
 love talk. 
 ��������:"Oh, stop.": 
 ��������He grinned. 
 ��������:"Or I'll end up pouncing on you when I get home.": 
 ��������Ray became even more descriptive, describing how he 
 intended to carry out her favourite bedroom activities and 
 heard her give a little sound that was half purr/half growl. 
 ��������:"You're all talk, no action.": 
 ��������He laughed and heard a creaking that he knew came from 
 the door of her office being opened and it came through ear 
 piercingly clear, even over the phone it set his teeth on 
 edge 
 ��������"God, get those door hinges oiled." 
 ��������"It's the perfect kinetic energy intruder alert." 
 ��������"Huh?" 
 ��������:"Never mind. I have to go.": 
 ��������"See you in the morning," Ray said before hanging up. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������It was a grumpy Ray who collected his luggage at O'Hare 
 and stomped his way through the terminal. He'd spent half 
 the night waiting for Meg to return, had to deal with Fraser 
 having a nightmare, received a black eye in the process of 
 waking him up. Somehow got him to take a sedative which sent 
 the distressed man into a deep and dreamless sleep, and 
 ended up lying on his bed, with an ice pack over his eye. 
 ��������He didn't remember much beyond that, he was vaguely 
 aware that Meg had been into his room, he'd woken up under 
 the blankets minus the ice pack and half his clothes. He 
 groaned when he saw that he'd managed to sleep through the 
 alarm. That was if he'd even remembered to set it, and he 
 couldn't recall doing it. As a result, he bolted out of bed 
 with only five minutes to get dressed before the taxi 
 arrived. He was hopping through the house trying to get his 
 second shoe on, double checking that all the windows and 
 doors were locked when the taxi arrived. He missed his 
 chance to talk to Meg and Fraser before he left. 
 ��������And things only got worse, the taxi suffered a flat on 
 the way to the airport, and the driver had called for 
 assistance, citing a bad back. Ray had ended up changing the 
 tire himself, and the taxi arrived at the airport just in 
 time for him to check in. There was no time to change into 
 clean clothes. Just enough to hand his suit case over and be 
 directed to the right gate to catch his flight, for which 
 the final boarding call went out as he ran through the 
 terminal. 
 ��������To cap off his morning, he discovered his seat mate was 
 a verbose old lady pushing 90 who babbled on and on about 
 her family, showing him her collection of pictures of her 
 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren along with 
 telling him stories about each every one of them. It wasn't 
 that he objected to her stories, it was her voice, it had a 
 nasal quality that set his teeth on edge and after listening 
 to it for three hours, he was ready to commit grannycide. It 
 didn't help that the pilot kept announcing that a storm over 
 Chicago was keeping them in the air. 
 ��������He finally got so sick of it that he slipped out of his 
 seat to pounce on a hostess and begged her to let him use 
 one of the unoccupied seats, before he strangled the 
 chattering old biddy that was his seat mate. Fortunately for 
 all involved, the hostess took pity on him and showed him to 
 an empty window seat. 
 ��������He went from grump to foul tempered grouch after the 
 plane finally landed and he discovered that even though he'd 
 taken the time to call ahead and arrange for Frannie to meet 
 him at the airport, she'd give up waiting, if she'd ever 
 arrived, which is why he stormed through the terminal with a 
 scowl on his face. 
 ��������His face was transformed, as he exited the terminal to 
 see his car parked at the curb, its paintwork gleaming. 
 Frannie was leaning against the Riv, dangling his keys in 
 one hand, holding up a thermos in the other. He dropped his 
 case by her feet, collecting his keys before giving her a 
 hug. 
 ��������"And here I was thinking you'd left." 
 ��������She patted his cheeks. 
 ��������"Ma is going to have a fit when she sees you. You've 
 lost so much weight." 
 ��������He rolled his eyes and moved away to open the trunk, 
 throwing his bags in. 
 ��������"Don't start, Meg nags me about it enough as it." 
 ��������"Not enough." 
 ��������"Thanks for taking such great care of my car," Ray 
 said, slamming the trunk closed. 
 ��������"You're welcome." 
 ��������"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but just forget 
 any ideas you might have had about continuing to use it. 
 It's going back to Canada with me." 
 ��������She climbed into the car, belting up and pouring a cup 
 of coffee as Ray climbed in. She reached out to wave it 
 under his nose, and he took it to sip at it, and smiled. 
 He'd almost forgotten what his favourite kind of coffee 
 tasted like. 
 ��������"How's Fraser?" 
 ��������"Getting better every day." 
 ��������"That's good news. How are your studies going? Ma said 
 you were going to .." 
 ��������"Don't ask." 
 ��������"Oh.." 
 ��������"Why don't you tell me how everyone's going instead." 
 ��������Frannie took the hint and started chattering away about 
 various things that had gone on while he'd been away. She 
 was still chattering away when he pulled up in the driveway. 
 He didn't get the welcome home he expected. The answer as to 
 why became obvious when he walked into the silent house. 
 ��������"Where is everyone," he asked his sister as she stepped 
 in behind him with the day's mail. 
 ��������"Maria, Tony and the kids are staying with Tony's 
 family for the holidays for a change. Ma won a holiday on a 
 cruise liner, and decided to take it while they were away." 
 ��������"Oh.. I guess I should have rang and told Ma I was 
 coming back sooner." 
 ��������"Meg called, but Ma and Maria had already made their 
 plans at that time.." 
 ��������"You're not going to vanish on me too are you?" 
 ��������"Well.. actually." 
 ��������"You've got your own plans too." 
 ��������She gave him a weak smile. 
 ��������"Rrright." 
 ��������"Meg said you needed a break, you'll have the house all 
 to yourself for at least a week. Make the most of it. I'll 
 be back on Saturday, Maria and the kid's will be back late 
 Sunday and once they get back, you'll be wishing they stayed 
 away a little longer. Why don't you go upstairs and get 
 cleaned up. I'll get lunch started." 
 ��������Ray gave a little nod, and headed for the stairs. 
 ��������"You don't have to worry about food while you're here, 
 Ma cooked up a storm before she left, the freezer is packed, 
 all you have to do is pick what you want. Which should be 
 fun." 
 ��������"Oh, why?" 
 ��������"Because she cooked all your favourite meals." 
 ��������Ray laughed as he tromped up the stairs. He didn't 
 notice Frannie sneaking up the stairs as he made his way up 
 the hall. The only thing on his mind was getting some clean 
 clothes and jumping into the shower to clean up. Those 
 thoughts went right out the window when he opened his 
 bedroom door, stepping in to stop dead in his tracks when he 
 saw his bed. There wasn't a square inch of it that was 
 covered with a brightly wrapped gift. 
 ��������"Frannie!" 
 ��������"Yessss?" She said by his ear. 
 ��������Ray jumped and spun around to look at her. 
 ��������"What is this?" 
 ��������"Your birthday, Christmas presents for last year and 
 your birthday presents for this year as well. Oh, and there 
 are some for Fraser there too. They're the one's up near the 
 head of the bed." 
 ��������Ray looked at the bed again.�������� 
 ��������"We didn't know where to send them," Frannie said in 
 way of explanation as she moved to the bed and picked up a 
 brightly wrapped gift and held it out. 
 ��������"This is from me." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray forgot all about Lunch as he worked his way through 
 the pile of gifts on his bed. He found more than one item of 
 clothing, a few books, a key chain with a tiny replica of 
 his car, which he wasted no time transferring his keys to, 
 there were three jigsaw puzzles, one of them a 3-d puzzle, a 
 new set of bed linen with matching curtains, courtesy of his 
 mother, a new set of Lady Killer products, this time there 
 was a bottle of aftershave, a cologne spray, a bar of soap, 
 talc and shampoo. He made a mental note to see wether Meg 
 liked it before he tossed it. It wasn't as if his mother 
 would find out. 
 ��������He opened up the last gift from his mother, and was 
 glad that Frannie had dashed off down stairs to make the 
 promised meal after watching him open her gifts. The last 
 gift from his mother was a mortar board and robe, of the 
 sort graduating students wore to their graduation ceremony. 
 The note tucked inside made him feel worse than the actual 
 gift did and he sat back just looking at it. 
 ��������With a little sigh, he pulled out his wallet and tucked 
 the note into it, making a mental promise to do what Meg 
 wanted him too and try to appeal the withdrawal of his 
 scholarship. 
 ��������Setting the wallet aside, he looked the bed over again. 
 There nestled among the presents was a parcel wrapped in 
 brown paper, he reached out for it and looked it over, 
 finding his own name and home address on it. There was no 
 return address, but the postal stamp was for one of the 
 local postal branches and judging by the date on it, it had 
 arrived a few days after he'd moved into Meg's apartment. 
 Wondering who'd sent it and why his mother hadn't given it 
 to him when he'd returned before heading off to Canada, he 
 set about unwrapping it to find an equally non descript box 
 and opened it. With a pfft, he was blinded by a flash of 
 light, as a cloud of smoke, complete with a foul stench, 
 erupted from the box and he felt liquid splash all over his 
 face, chest and hands which had flown up in reflex at the 
 blinding flash. 
 ��������The pain hit seconds later, and he realised what the 
 liquid was at the same time as it started eating through his 
 clothes and flesh. 
 ��������-Acid!- 
 ��������He staggered up to his feet, coughing as the foul smoke 
 irritated his lungs. he couldn't draw in enough air to 
 scream when the next wave of pain swept over him as the acid 
 did its work. He fell to the floor with a thud, fighting for 
 consciousness, fighting his own instincts, unable to scream 
 for help, barely able to draw in air between hacking coughs. 
 Somehow he managed to crawl to the door way and rolled over 
 to his back. Kicking the door open he started slamming it 
 into the wall, over and over. 
 ��������He heard the sound's reverberating through the 
 corridor, his sister's voice, then the sound of her approach 
 and nothing more as he lost the fight for consciousness. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Dressed in his dress reds, Fraser followed Meg, clad in 
 her own dress reds, with the coat open because her bust line 
 was exceeded the coat's ability to cover it. They strode 
 together through the corridor's of the college. It was far 
 from quiet, but then there were still a number of exams 
 being held before it closed for the holiday period. 
 ��������A student puffing away on a cigarette in the corridor, 
 directly under a non smoking sign, looked up as the red clad 
 couple strode down the hall. 
 ��������"Which way to the Dean's office?" Meg asked. 
 ��������The student pointed and Meg continued on her way. 
 Fraser though stopped ,and reached out to pluck the 
 cigarette from the student's fingers before stubbing it out 
 and proceeded to give the student a lecture on the effects 
 of smoking on ones health, quoting verbatim an article he'd 
 read in one of his magazines, complete with statistics. 
 ��������The student listened to the whole lecture with a silly 
 smile, waiting for him to finish, then informed Fraser it 
 was pot, not tobacco. 
 ��������Fraser stared at him for a good three seconds, then 
 made him turn around and look at the sign on the wall, which 
 apart from declaring the area a non smoking area, also 
 stated that anyone caught smoking in it would be fined. Then 
 he hauled the student off to the Dean's office. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray slowly drifted back to consciousness, feeling no 
 pain, thanks to copious amounts of pain killers he'd 
 received intravenously after his arrival at the hospital. He 
 became aware of the respirator tube down his throat first, 
 the restraints around his arms second, and the presence of 
 another person last. 
 ��������He heard a thump near his head, felt the touch of a 
 hand on his arm and tried to look around, but he couldn't 
 open his eyes. 
 ��������"Relax, Ray, you're in the hospital.. You're on a 
 respirator, stop thrashing around like that, or they'll 
 leave you restrained and I don't think you want that to 
 happen." 
 ��������Slowly Ray settled down as the voice of his former 
 superior continued telling him to calm down, over and over 
 in a soothing tone. He heard a door open and the sound of 
 people entering. The respirator was disengaged, and he was 
 fed ice chips that he swallowed gratefully, after gagging at 
 the horrible taste in his mouth while the doctor waffled on. 
 Nothing sunk in except the fact that the tube down his 
 throat was gone. 
 ��������He tried to raise a hand and remembered the restraints. 
 He felt the touch on his arm again, heard Welsh telling him 
 not to fight the restraints and turned his head in the 
 direction of that voice. 
 ��������"Wha.." he croaked. 
 ��������"Relax.."�������� 
 ��������"M'eyes.." 
 ��������"Have been bandaged." 
 ��������Ray relaxed a tad and tried to remember how he ended up 
 in the hospital. As soon as he thought about it, the memory 
 of that vicious surprise package returned. Welsh didn't need 
 to see his face, not that he could, it was covered in 
 bandages, to know he'd remembered, he felt Ray tense up. 
 ��������"Do you remember what happened? Don't try and say it, 
 just nod if you do." 
 ��������"Yeesss. Parcel.." 
 ��������"There were three nasty surprises inside, a flash bomb, 
 an acid bomb and a smoke bomb. The flash bomb blinded you, 
 the smoke bomb chocked you, stopping you from calling for 
 help or screaming when the acid hit." 
 ��������"Frannie.." 
 ��������"Yes, Frannie found you. And you have a lot to thank 
 her for, according to the doctor. From what I hear she 
 worked out you'd been splashed with acid pretty fast and 
 slathered you with something that neutralised it fast. 
 You've both got mittened hands now." 
 ��������"Frannie burned too?" 
 ��������"Just her hands from pulling your coat and shirt off to 
 keep the acid from reaching your skin there. She didn't 
 quite make it, but the burns there are considerably less 
 severe than the ones to your face and arms." 
 ��������"She here?" 
 ��������"No. You've been under for the last three days. She 
 went home this morning, though she'll back as soon as they 
 notify her that you've come around." 
 ��������"Family know?" 
 ��������"She's let the rest of your family know. Your mother is 
 on her way back now." 
 ��������"Meg??" 
 ��������"Who?" 
 ��������"Dragon lady." 
 ��������"Oh, Inspector Thatcher.. Unless your sister informed 
 her, then no." 
 ��������"Frannie.. doesn't know.. the number." 
 ��������"Do you want me to call her?" 
 ��������"NO. Don't.. tell.. Tell Frannie.. Not to tell Meg what 
 happened." 
 ��������"Did you two have a falling out, is that why you're 
 back in Chicago?" 
 ��������"Holiday.. Said.. I needed.. a break.." 
 ��������"Ah.. Well. She has to find out some time." 
 ��������"Don't tell.. I'll.. work.. out.. something.. later.. 
 Don't wan.. her to fin.. out.. She's.. in a delicate 
 condition." 
 ��������"Er.. Are we talking the kind of condition that last 
 nine months here?" 
 ��������"Yes.. Tol me.. Doctor said.. she could loose baby if 
 she didn't relax.. Don' wan her to loose baby.. Make sure... 
 she doesn' hear.. what happened.. " 
 ��������Welsh nodded, then remembered he couldn't see him do 
 it. 
 ��������"I'll make sure Frannie get the message." 
 ��������"Don.. mention.. baby to Frannie please.. Juz tell her 
 not to tell Meg.. If she tells Meg, Meg'll fly out, get 
 stressed and miscarry." 
 ��������"So how do I tell her that she can't tell Thatcher 
 without explaining why she can't do it?" 
 ��������Ray gave a sigh that made Welsh's skin crawl. 
 ��������"Can't.. thiz is such a mess.. Got.. pad?" 
 ��������Welsh pulled it from his pocket with a pen. 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Call Meg.. Before she calls.. home to see how I am. 
 Make up some story.. to explain away.. why.. I gotta 
 disappear for.. a while.. Make it good.. but make sure it 
 isn't something.. that'll.. stress her out." 
 ��������"What's the number?" 
 ��������Ray gave him the number for both Meg's office and 
 home." 
 ��������"We know who was responsible for that parcel, It was 
 sent by the same person who scratched that message into your 
 car. Forensic's went over the parcel and found a fingerprint 
 to match one of the prints taken off your car when it was 
 vandalised. And we've found a match for them, and went 
 through your case files trying to find one involving him 
 but.." 
 ��������"Didn't find anything there." 
 ��������"No. Does the name Dante Mc Intire mean anything to 
 you?" 
 ��������"Yesss.. Don' tell me.." 
 ��������"He's the one who vandalised the car and sent that 
 parcel." 
 ��������"Noo..." 
 ��������"We lifted his prints from the car and the parcel. He's 
 the one who was behind it. That's why we haven't caught him. 
 Apparently he was in Chicago for a few months, and flew out 
 a week or two after the.. incident. He went back to 
 Australia, where according to the Australian Federal Police, 
 he's wanted for aggravated assault, rape, and attempted 
 murder. They've been trying to capture him for almost a year 
 now." 
 ��������"Noo... Muz be a mistake." 
 ��������"There's no mistake. We came up with a name after we 
 ran the prints we lifted from the parcel. The Australian 
 Fed's sent his particular to our guys months ago. They think 
 he may have gotten out of the country, using a stolen 
 passport he had in his possession." 
 �������� "You gotta warn the RCMP that he got outta Australia 
 using Fraser's passport.." 
 ��������"He stole Fraser's passport?!" 
 ��������"And all his Id.. he had it all.. He's the bastard that 
 almost killed Fraser. I bet if you can track down Fraser's 
 accounts here, in Chicago, you'll find out they were emptied 
 out around the same time that parcel was sent to my place. 
 Dante got his hands on the pass books for Benni's accounts 
 here too.. And I knew Benni still had money in them.. He 
 told me he didn't get a chance to close down the accounts 
 when he headed down under, that he had enough money to get 
 by on while he sorted out the mess he was in. And he had a 
 trust fund set up, for Deif, so he'd be looked after if 
 anything happened to him.. There was a few thousand dollar's 
 in that account." 
 ��������"Do you know which bank?" 
 ��������Ray gave him all the details he could think of, and 
 Welsh took them down. 
 ��������"Is there anything else you can think of which might 
 help us trace his movements?" 
 ��������"Memorabilia." 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"He had all of Fraser's stuff.. Between them.. They had 
 a collection of memorabilia worth thousands. But all Dante's 
 assets were frozen and his property was seized.. Meg told me 
 about it.. But he had Fraser's stuff.. I never did get 
 manage to get it back... Fraser told me about the 
 collection.. Dante knows what it's worth.. He knows what 
 Fraser had.. I'm not sure what it'd be worth but if what 
 Fraser told me is anything to go by it was worth a few 
 thousand dollars to collectors. And there was other stuff.. 
 I remember Benni telling me he had it all in storage.. but 
 the place where it was stored was closed down and they sent 
 it back to him.. I tried to track it down.. but.. from the 
 sound of it, he took it all to Australia with him." 
 ��������"Do you know what he had?" 
 ��������Ray raked his memories and told Welsh everything he 
 knew about it, which wasn't much, but might have been enough 
 for Welsh to learn what he needed to know and find out if 
 Fraser's memorabilia collection had gone up for sale. 
 ��������"Personally, I hope the Fed's down under managed to 
 seize it before he thought of it.. I know Benni kept it all 
 these years for nothing more than the sentimental value.. 
 There are really good memories attached to it.. I'd hate to 
 think that bastard profited by stealing it and selling it to 
 the highest bidder." 
 ��������"Is Fraser capable of answering questions?" 
 ��������"About Dante.. I don't think so.. And even if he could 
 answer questions, I wouldn't recommend asking them. The only 
 time we mentioned Dante around him, he cried half the 
 night.. He went to pieces.. and I won't be there to help him 
 pick up the pieces if you send someone around to interrogate 
 him about Dante. And I didn't spent the last year or so 
 helping Fraser to get his act back together to have some 
 idiot come along asking the wrong questions and ruin it 
 all." 
 ��������"In other words, Fraser's still recovering and if he 
 isn't handled right he could have another nervous 
 breakdown." 
 ��������"Right.. And if anyone sets him off.. It's not just me 
 coming down on them they'll have to worry about. The Dragon 
 lady will have their guts for garters. And if something 
 happens to him, she'll be placed under more stress than she 
 needs and if that happens.." 
 ��������"I get the picture Vecchio.. I'll do everything I can 
 to track this psycho down without pestering Fraser to do 
 it." 
 ��������Ray heard the door open, and foot steps. 
 ��������"That's the doctor.. He'll skin me alive if I don't 
 leave you to get your rest. Is there anything you want me to 
 do for you - other than what we've discussed?" 
 ��������"That about covers it.." 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 �������������������������������� Part Thirteen 
 �������������������������������� *ooOO0=@=0OOoo* 
 
 ��������Fraser sat cross legged on a chair cushion on the floor 
 in Meg's office where Meg could keep an eye on him as he 
 worked his way through a box of paper work, sorting the 
 papers into some form of order. 
 ��������The talk with the Dean had gone well. But then when a 
 Mountie (make that two) tells you that one of your teachers 
 is deliberately flunking a student, and asks how a 
 professional detective can flunk criminology classes you 
 listen. And the Dean had and promised to look into and 
 reinstate Ray's scholarship if his investigation into the 
 matter proved Ray had been unfairly flunked. 
 ��������Reaching for the phone Meg dialled the Vecchio 
 household's number yet again. She listened to the phone 
 ring, fingers crossed that someone would answer. She needed 
 to speak to Ray about Fraser's medication. She didn't know 
 which pills to give him at what time. The Vitamin's were 
 easy, it was the other pills she had a problem with. Then 
 there was the matter of Fraser keeping her awake half the 
 night, as he screamed his way through the night, trapped in 
 some nightmare or another. She'd given up trying to wake him 
 from his night terrors, he tended to strike out when someone 
 tried to wake him. As had been the case each time she'd 
 tried to call Ray over the last 3 days, no one answered, she 
 listened to it ring out yet again and sighed as she placed 
 the handset back on the cradle. Fraser glanced up a curious 
 look on his face. 
 ��������"No luck." 
 ��������"Did you try his mobile phone?" 
 ��������"He left that behind." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������The phone rang and Meg snatched it up and for the first 
 time in three days she smiled. Fraser listened to the one 
 side of the conversation he could hear and realised she was 
 talking to the Dean. And if the smile on Meg's face was 
 anything to go by, he was calling with good news. 
 ��������"Yes.. Yes.. As soon as I speak to him, I'll tell him. 
 Thank-you. That's wonderful news." 
 ��������Fraser watched as Meg's smile became a frown. 
 ��������"He failed those test too? Are you sure they're not 
 forgeries too?" 
 ��������Meg's frown became deeper.�������� 
 ��������"Oh dear.. Yes.. I understand, but under the 
 circumstances.. Couldn't he be given a chance to resit the 
 exam too?" 
 ��������After a few moments the frown vanished to be replaced 
 with a look of relief and she reached out for a pen to take 
 down some details. 
 ��������"Yes, of course, I understand.. I'll talk to Ray about 
 it as soon as I can.. Yes.. I'll make sure he does. Thank-
 you." 
 ��������Fraser watched her hang up. 
 ��������"That was the Dean, he said he investigated and found 
 evidence there was something very wrong going on. He pulled 
 all the exam papers on file for Ray and gave them to a hand 
 writing expert. The expert said, all the criminology exams 
 he received low or failing marks on are forgeries. And bad 
 forgeries at that. The teacher has been fired, and they're 
 looking for a new criminologist to take his place." 
 ��������"That is good news." 
 ��������"The bad news is that it wasn't just the criminology 
 exam he failed. He failed the Psych and SAC exam too. But 
 the Dean spoke to the teachers. Under the circumstances, 
 they're willing to let him do a make up exam. If he lodges 
 an appeal *personally* he'll be given a chance to take the 
 exams again, and if he passes in all three subjects his 
 scholarship will be restored." 
 ��������"That is even better news." 
 ��������"Now all I have to do is get hold of Ray to tell him." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Frannie looked at the phone in annoyance. That was the 
 third time the phone had rung out before she'd been able to 
 reach it. Knocking the handset off the cradle she picked up 
 a pencil and used it to dial and fumbled the handset up to 
 her shoulder. 
 ��������"Hello.. This is Francesca Vecchio, my brother Raymond 
 is a patient at your hospital. I asked to be notified when 
 he regained consciousness." 
 ��������She rolled her eyes as the telephonist told her in a 
 bored voice, they'd ring her when he woke up. 
 ��������"Yes, I know that, but someone just rang but I wasn't 
 able to reach the phone before it rang out." 
 ��������The telephonist told her to hold the line and put her 
 on hold. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Fraser placed the last paper from the box into the 
 correct pile and then began sorting through each pile, 
 sorting them into the correct chronological order. Meg 
 watched him work and made a note on her pad to have him 
 tested to see if he was fit to return to light office duties 
 in the near future. 
 ��������When the phone rang she picked it up absently and 
 identified herself. She bolted upright, giving her caller 
 her full attention when he identified himself as Lieutenant 
 Welsh. 
 ��������Fraser looked around and watched her reactions. 
 ��������"Yes.. Yes.. I understand.. Yes.. I appreciate your 
 call.. Fraser?" 
 ��������She looked at Fraser. 
 ��������"He's doing much better.. Would you be able to pass a 
 message onto Raymond for me? I need to know Fraser's 
 medication schedule. I'm not sure if I'm giving him the 
 right pills at the right time. He's been screaming his lungs 
 out every night and I'm not getting much sleep and Ray knows 
 how much I need a good night's rest now." 
 ��������Fraser watched her brows defect. 
 ��������"Oh, he told you about that did he.. I see.. He didn't 
 want me to worry.. Well, you can tell him for me, that 
 accepting that assignment is a strange way of making life 
 less stressful for me." 
 ��������Welsh cut in. 
 ��������"Oh, I see.. Yes.. I understand.. It can't be helped. 
 Forget what I said, and tell him I also need to know which 
 doctor he took Fraser too.. And that if he had half a brain 
 he would have left me a note giving me all the information I 
 needed to take care of Fraser properly while he was away." 
 ��������Then she hung up. 
 ��������"Ray isn't coming back, is he?" 
 ��������"Not in the immediate future.. He picked the wrong time 
 to go back to the precinct to see his friends there.. They 
 were looking for someone to go undercover and because he's 
 been out of action for the last year he was the perfect 
 man for the assignment." 
 ��������"And he took it." 
 ��������"He didn't have much choice.. It was accept the 
 assignment or take a discharge." 
 ��������"Oh dear." 
 ��������"He told them he'd take the discharge, but they talked 
 him out of it and into taking the assignment." 
 ��������"How long will he be undercover?" 
 ��������The look she gave him was one of sadness. That one 
 question was evidence that he still had a long way to go 
 before he could be considered fit to return to duty. He 
 should have known the answer without having to ask for it. 
 ��������"What's the Motto of the RCMP, Benton?" 
 ��������Fraser thought about it. 
 ��������"We always get our man?" 
 ��������Meg ripped the note about having him tested out of her 
 pad, screweing it up to toss it into the bin.�������� 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray was sitting up, holding as still as possible as the 
 nurse removed the bandages, gauze and gel that had been 
 applied to his face. The pain killers they kept feeding him 
 left him feeling no pain but he'd been warned about moving 
 or trying to touch his face. He had to keep reminding 
 himself that there was no point in trying to touch his face 
 because his hands were wrapped in bandages too. 
 ��������He was aware the nurse was touching his face in a vague 
 way. He'd also learned to take note of every little sound he 
 heard, and he heard the little intake of air when the 
 bandages were removed. He didn't need to be told what his 
 face looked like, he could imagine it. 
 ��������He tilted his head and received a light slap on an 
 unburned part of his arm. 
 ��������"Don't move. I'm not done yet." 
 ��������More bandages and gauze came away and he became aware 
 that the bandages over his eyes were being removed. Of soft 
 dabbing over his eyes. 
 ��������"Shield his eyes," he heard the doctor order. 
 ��������Then a soft touch on his arm. 
 ��������"All right, Mr Vecchio.. You can open your eyes now." 
 ��������With an effort Ray's eyes opened. 
 ��������"Good, now, keep them open." 
 ��������All Ray could see were huge blurs. His view of the 
 world became one huge bright blur for a moment, then 
 shifted, and became a huge bright blur again. 
 ��������"Follow my pen, if you can." 
 ��������Ray blinked and tried to focus. He was aware of 
 something passing back and forth before his eyes but he 
 couldn't focus on it. 
 ��������"Everything's a big blur," he said. 
 ��������"There are a number of tests I'll have to carry out 
 later, but I don't think it's anything to worry about, just 
 a temporary side effect of being flash blinded. It happens 
 all the time." 
 ��������"Yeah, right." 
 ��������"Hold still. Hmmm... This is excellent. Remind me to 
 find out what his sister used to neutralise that acid." 
 ��������Ray was vaguely aware of his face being touched here 
 and there and then of the doctor withdrawing giving the 
 nurse some directions. The click of a pen, and the 
 scratching of that pen across paper told him the Doctor was 
 making notes at the same time. 
 ��������"Your burns are healing nicely. In some cases, they've 
 healed completely. You have a great deal to thank your 
 sister for. They could have been a lot worse." 
 ��������"How bad are they?" 
 ��������"15% of the burns are 1st degree, 75% are second degree 
 and the remainder are 3rd degree burns. Mainly here, here, 
 here," The doctor said and Ray felt a light touch on his 
 face. 
 ��������"Am I gonna need skin grafts?" 
 ��������"Here, here and on your hands.. Yes. For the rest, 
 laser treatment should reduce and eliminate most if not all 
 of the scarring once the burns heal. But there will be a 
 permanent side effect.. You'll never have to shave again." 
 ��������Ray didn't laugh. 
 ��������"It's going to be noticeable, isn't it? I won't be able 
 to pretend it didn't happen will I?" 
 ��������"No. We can reduce or eliminate most of the scaring on 
 your face and throat, but it's going to be noticeable on 
 your hands. But you can always cover up the scarring there 
 with gloves." 
 ��������"My chest?" 
 ��������"Oh, well, that's one area you don't have to worry 
 about, the burns there were minimal and healed up quite 
 nicely." 
 ��������"What's the date?" 
 ��������The doctor checked his watch wondering at the reasoning 
 behind the sudden change of subject and gave Ray the date. 
 Ray made a few calculations. 
 ��������"How long will it take? Before I can walk out of her 
 looking halfway normal?" 
 ��������"At the rate your burns are healing, *halfway* normal 
 will be a few more weeks. With the grafting and laser 
 treatment, 3 to six months depending on how well the grafts 
 take. And there is a plus side to the whole thing." 
 ��������"There is?" 
 ��������"You will most likely come out of this looking 
 younger." 
 ��������For the first time since he'd opened the vicious 
 surprise parcel Ray felt like laughing. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Welsh walked into the lounge and looked around to see 
 Ray curled up on a reclining chair, his face was covered 
 with a bandage that wouldn't have looked out of place on 
 your average bank robber. His eyes were hidden behind a pair 
 of shades that wouldn't have looked out of place on a skier 
 and his hands were mittened in bandages. He had a walkman in 
 his lap and earbuds in his ear. A creaking floor board 
 alerted Ray to the fact he wasn't alone and he looked up and 
 around. 
 ��������"Who's there?" 
 ��������"It's me Lieutenant Welsh." 
 ��������He stepped closer and reached out to wave a hand in 
 front of Ray's face. 
 ��������"I can see you know." 
 ��������"Then why do you need to ask who's there?" 
 ��������"Everything's a big blur of shadow's and light, and 
 when someone waves a hand in my face I know it." 
 ��������"Sorry." 
 ��������"S'ok. I'm getting used to it. Everyone does it to me." 
 ��������He picked up his walk man, fumbling with it, and held 
 it up. 
 ��������"Would you turn this off for me, before I lose my 
 place." 
 ��������Welsh reached out to turn it off. 
 ��������"What are you listening to?" 
 ��������"Just some boring text book about the links between 
 Neurological birth defects and psychosis." 
 ��������"You're still studying psychology??" 
 ��������"You're not the only one who's surprised.. I flunked 
 out. Before I came back. But thanks to Meg, and my mother I 
 was given a second chance. When Ma heard I was gonna be 
 coming home soon, she went all the way to Canada to talk to 
 the Dean at the college and found out what Meg did to get me 
 a second chance. Now they send me all the text books on 
 tape, and Ma reads the papers for me and I dictate the 
 answers for her to write up for me. Whenever I have to do a 
 test, a friend of the Dean's from a University here comes 
 over and gives me the tests." 
 ��������"I see." 
 ��������Ray gave a weak little grin. 
 ��������"And my grade average is improving, can you believe 
 that." 
 ��������"Yes. You don't have the distraction of having to take 
 care of Fraser while you study now." 
 ��������"True. But that's going to be a thing of the past 
 soon." 
 ��������"Oh?" 
 ��������"I talked to Meg over the phone the other day. They're 
 coming back." 
 ��������"They are?" 
 ��������"Yeah.. She say's Fraser's backsliding and getting 
 worse every day. The final straw was some dope freak 
 breaking into our place and trashing it." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"Apparently Fraser got him expelled, hauling him up to 
 the Dean's office for smoking it in the halls. He trashed 
 the place while they were out in retaliation. But it set 
 Fraser right off. He won't go back there now, and she fired 
 the carer I hired to help out." 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������"The whole reason I started studying psychology was to 
 keep Fraser out of a psychiatric hospital, and if that woman 
 had her way that's where he'd be. Or at least that's what 
 Meg says, but then again, Meg took an instant dislike to 
 her. Right from the start.. And unless I hear it from 
 Fraser, I'm gonna take it with a grain of salt." 
 ��������"Let's get back to place being trashed. Are they sure, 
 and I mean absolutely it was the addict Fraser got expelled? 
 ��������"He was busted for it when he tried to pawn my laptop, 
 they found the rest of the stuff that went missing at his 
 place after they searched it." 
 ��������"Right... That's good." 
 ��������"Why do I have the feeling you didn't come to see how I 
 was doing?" 
 ��������"Because I didn't." 
 ��������"Rrright." 
 ��������"Do you think you could get Thatcher to speed up the 
 move back to Chicago?" 
 ��������"Yeah, right, if I did that she'd have my head on a 
 platter. Friday is perfect. These come off tomorrow, *if* 
 the Doctor was right, I should be able to hide the worst of 
 it with a little make up a bandage and some gloves." 
 ��������"Really?" 
 ��������"Well close to it," Ray said pulling his sleeve back to 
 show Welsh that the bandages extended all the way to his 
 shoulder. 
 ��������"I'll need to keep my arms covered too." 
 ��������"So you didn't need any skin grafts?" 
 ��������"Oh, no.. I needed those. Across here," Ray said 
 drawing a finger from cheek to cheek crossing his nose, "and 
 here," Ray continued touching his chin and brow, "and from 
 here to here," Ray went on drawing a finger from his elbow 
 to point where his palms met his fingers on his left arm, 
 "and here," Ray indicated a patch on his shoulder, "not to 
 mention from my wrist to my elbow on the other arm." 
 ��������"You were shielding your face.." 
 ��������"Right.. The worst burns were on my arms, and a lot of 
 that has to do with Francesca." 
 ��������"Speaking of whom.. How is she?" 
 ��������"Speaking of which - You understated how bad she got 
 burned helping me." 
 ��������"I did?" 
 ��������"Yeah, the burns went all the way up her arms." 
 ��������"They did?" 
 ��������"Didn't you ask her what happened?" 
 ��������"Why don't you tell me and then I'll tell you if what 
 she told me and what she told you are the same thing." 
 ��������"I doubt it.. You see I know her story is not what 
 happened. She's the one who was understating everything. Not 
 that she'd admit it." 
 ��������"So how do you know she's understating it?" 
 ��������"After they let me out.. And I came home, I started 
 having flash backs, It all came back to me in bits and 
 pieces.. And what Frannie sez happened, and what really 
 happened are two different things.. Like for example how she 
 knew I was in trouble.. She sez I screamed, but I know I did 
 *not* scream.. I wanted to.. But I couldn't.. I kicked the 
 door, over and over, hard as I could to make a big enough 
 racket to get her attention. I remember hearing her coming.. 
 after that.. the next thing I can remember is her dragging 
 me down the hall, she was behind me, she had her arms 
 wrapped around me, and she was hissing'n'cursing under her 
 breath, because the acid was burning her too. And she was 
 muttering things about what she'd do to the person 
 responsible if she ever got her hands on him." 
 ��������"Uh-hu.. And after that?" 
 ��������"She dragged me into the bathroom, and into the 
 shower.. That I remember really clear. Somewhere along the 
 way to the bathroom she worked out that it was acid. She 
 ripped my coat and shirt off and raided the medicine cabinet 
 and squirted and slathered me with absolutely everything she 
 could think of that would neutralise it. Then she covered 
 all the burns with baby oil and wrapped me up in wet towels, 
 ran back out, and got a blanket and pillow to wrap me up. 
 And the whole time she was talking to me.." 
 ��������"So she knew you were conscious or at least semi-
 conscious." 
 ��������"Yeah.. Even when she left the room it didn't stop. I 
 could hear her yelling at me. The only time she stopped was 
 when she was calling it in. Then she came back with a lot of 
 ice and packed it into the towels. I don't think she did 
 anything about her own burns till she was sure she'd done 
 everything she could do for mine. If I could nail a medal on 
 her chest for that, I would.. But I can't.. But she's gonna 
 find out that I haven't forgotten she saved my life soon 
 enough." 
 ��������"Oh, what have you got in mind?" 
 ��������"You'll find out when she does," Ray said with a faint 
 smile. 
 ��������"And when will that be?" 
 ��������"What's the date?" 
 ��������Welsh told him and Ray did a few mental calculations. 
 ��������"It'll be about five to six weeks?" 
 ��������"What's happening in five to six weeks." 
 ��������"You'll see." 
 ��������"You're not even going to give me a hint?" 
 ��������"Nope. It's a surprise.. Besides.. I don't know if I 
 can pull off what I've got in mind yet." 
 ��������"Uh-hu." 
 ��������"And not that I'm trying to change the subject or 
 anything." 
 ��������"Which means you are." 
 ��������"But why do you want me to get Meg to get here sooner? 
 When you didn't know she was coming back in the first place, 
 and ask about the place being trashed, and don't tell me 
 it's because of Dante." 
 ��������"It is." 
 ��������"I told you *not* to tell me that." 
 ��������"I'm not saying he knows where Fraser is, though it is 
 a possibility." 
 ��������"But you know where Dante is.. You traced him." 
 ��������"I did a lot more than that, I found out why you were 
 on his hit list. You forget to mention that he was a 
 Mountie, and took over at the consulate while Thatcher was 
 on leave and that he had a relationship with Fraser. That's 
 why your name's at the top of his hit list" 
 ��������Ray looked down at his lap. 
 ��������"This psycho is obsessed with Fraser." 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"You don't how lucky you are to be alive right now. He 
 crossed the border and he's been leaving a trail of corpses 
 in his wake." 
 ��������Ray gulped. 
 ��������"As for how I found that out, those guesses you made. 
 You were dead on. He did use Fraser's passport to get back 
 into the states, he's been using Fraser's I.D and you were 
 right about Fraser's bank accounts too, they were raided the 
 same day that parcel was mailed. He also used Fraser's I.D 
 to apply for 3 credit cards, which he got. He's been using 
 them and leaving a trail behind. He's smart enough to keep 
 all his purchases on the cards small enough that they don't 
 check the cards. The only time he went over that limitation, 
 it appears to have been deliberate.. I think he knows that 
 we know." 
 ��������"You mean he was trying to get caught." 
 ��������"No.. He was trying to lure the authorities out, which 
 he did.. And they followed him, all the way to the biggest 
 narcotics farm in the country." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"And he also blew up three drug labs, and the whole 
 thing was controlled by the same man, who's also on his hit 
 list. Six other's on it are dead. He's left a trail of 
 bodies behind him." 
 ��������"And there's a definite connection between it all?" 
 ��������"Fraser. Every one on his list is connected to him in 
 one way or another." 
 ��������"They know who he's after, don't they?" 
 ��������"They started drawing up a list of possible victims 
 after the third murder. He proved them right four times." 
 ��������"That makes seven." 
 ��������"The crime lord behind all the drugs surrendered 
 himself to the authorities and confessed to an absolutely 
 staggering list of crimes. He'll probably spend the rest of 
 his life behind bars, but he'll still be alive, something 
 that can't be said for the other men on that list who are in 
 their own way connected to him." 
 ��������"The six people he killed are all connected to the 
 crime lord?" 
 ��������"Yes, but don't ask me how. All I know is what I've 
 been able to get them to tell me, which isn't much." 
 ��������"And what do you know, exactly?" 
 ��������"5 of the 6 men Dante's already killed were apparently 
 involved in an attack on Fraser, which was linked to this 
 crime lord. There were 7 possibly 8 men involved, 7 were 
 definitely identified, 5 of them are now dead." 
 ��������"And the 6th?" 
 ��������"It seems Fraser was the first, and until Dante, last 
 Mountie to ever find and shut down one of his drug labs. He 
 didn't take very kindly to that and .." 
 ��������"The 6th person was a woman right?" 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"Why did you assume it was a woman?" 
 ��������"I think I know who you're talking about." 
 ��������"So Fraser told you about this crime lord?" 
 ��������"What you're telling me sounds like the one he 
 mentioned to me. He had all the dirt, and I do mean all the 
 dirt on the guy, but he couldn't take him down. Because the 
 son of bitch killed his informant and set him up.. and even 
 though he got off the hook.. Fraser couldn't take him down. 
 He was barred from even going back to that guys territory or 
 having anything to do with the investigation into his 
 activities." 
 ��������"And wasn't thrilled about it either." 
 ��������"Of course not." 
 ��������"He's lucky. Among other things, this man admitted to 
 killing six investigators, and arranging the deaths of 4 
 mounties, had another 3 sent to prison, where they were 
 killed soon after, and there were apparently five others who 
 ended up dead just because they happened to stumble upon the 
 location of his narcotics farm." 
 ��������"He confessed to all that?" 
 ��������Welsh nodded. 
 ��������"Soooo.. How did these guys Dante killed die?" 
 ��������"In all but one case, they died slowly and painfully." 
 ��������"Uh-hu..and in the other?" 
 ��������"He apparently beat the man to death." 
 ��������"That I can believe.. He came close to killing Fraser 
 that way."�������� 
 ��������"When he's not hunting down Killers & Rapists which is 
 what all the men he's killed so far have been, he's busy 
 torching places. Apart from the drug lab's, he's also 
 torched 16 buildings. Including two RCMP outposts, where he 
 served with Fraser in the past. And in every instance, there 
 is a link to Fraser some how." 
 ��������"That's why you wanted to know if they were sure it was 
 that dope freak who trashed our place there." 
 ��������Welsh nodded. 
 ��������"There are five more names on that list.. People 
 they're almost certain he'll go after next.. Your name is 
 there.." 
 ��������"As far as Dante's concerned, I'm history, he probably 
 thinks that his little surprise package took care of me." 
 ��������"Thatcher's name is on the list too." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"He knows she was involved in your attempt to get 
 Fraser out of his clutches before it was too late. He wants 
 you dead because A.) He possibly views you as competition 
 for Fraser's affections and B.) You actively tried to 
 separate them." 
 ��������"Do you know for a fact that he knows Meg was helping 
 me?" 
 ��������"It went beyond that.. Once they started trying to work 
 out who he'd go after, there were two things that made 
 Thatcher a definite target. She stood up to him and made no 
 secret of the fact that she'd nail his hide to the wall if 
 she could find something to do it with. By all accounts, she 
 *ordered* Constable Turnbull to go out and slash his car's 
 tires to keep him from being able to leave in a hurry when 
 she was trying to do that." 
 ��������"I don't believe it." 
 ��������"Believe it. Once they found out she helped you, they 
 started back tracking and interrogated the staff at the 
 consulate to find out what happened when she crossed paths 
 with Dante." 
 ��������"And he knows about that?" 
 ��������"He's not stupid. I'm sure he knows who was behind what 
 happened to his car. And he knows for a fact that Meg was 
 taking action to get Fraser away from him. Some idiot called 
 the Sydney consulate and told him she had made a formal 
 complaint about him which they intended to investigate. The 
 timing suggests, that the phone call is what prompted his 
 near lethal assault on Fraser." 
 ��������"Tell me that moron got more than a slap on his wrist 
 for making that call." 
 ��������"I'll have to look into it." 
 ��������"Do you know where Dante was traced to last?" 
 ��������Welsh pulled out his note pad checking it and gave Ray 
 the name of the town. 
 ��������"Have you got your phone on you?" 
 ��������Welsh pulled it out and offered it to Ray. Ray waved a 
 mittened hand at him, then gave him a number to dial. Welsh 
 helped him rest the phone on his shoulder and then listened, 
 a brow raising as he did. 
 ��������"It's me, I'm just calling to see how you are... Oh, 
 aren't we in a snit. I wish I was there to see it... Did I 
 ever mention you're simply ravishing when you're stomping 
 around in a snit." 
 ��������Welsh snickered. 
 ��������"No.. I mean it.. But then again, you look ravishing 
 most of the time... What's that.. Caro, don't you know 
 Italian men like their women big." 
 ��������Welsh covered his mouth to hide his smile and backed 
 up. 
 ��������"What's more I can't wait to see you and prove it. 
 Remember those plans I had before I flew out... Yesss, those 
 plans," Ray purred making Welsh wonder what plans he was 
 talking about. 
 ��������"I can't wait to carry them out," Ray said then smiled. 
 ��������"Is there a smile on your face? I just bet there's a 
 really big smile on your face.. There is.. Ohh.. No.. I'm 
 not doing that.. Why??? Er.. I'm a cel phone, that's why.. 
 Haven't you heard, idiots with scanners can listen to your 
 most intimate conversations and record them.... No. I'd love 
 to, but I can't come to you. You have to come to me. Do you 
 think you can get here sooner... You can't... Are you sure? 
 Uh-hu. Oh well. If you say so... But I'm warning you, Ma's 
 throwing women at me." 
 ��������Even across the room Welsh could hear Thatcher's 
 screech at that. 
 ��������"Very attractive women.. Just last night she threw this 
 voluptuous vixen who was over me like a rash. We're talking 
 Barracuda here... I told her, I was spoken for as soon as I 
 said, I wasn't married yet. She said.. Well.. never mind 
 what she said.. I wouldn't want to make your blood pressure 
 go through the roof... Well of course I told her to take a 
 hike.. But Ma isn't going to stop hurling her at me until 
 you show up and stake your claim.. One look at you my little 
 beached whale and she'll stop throwing these women at me and 
 start planning our wedding." 
 ��������Welsh wondered what Thatcher had to say about that, 
 whatever it was, it was obviously amusing because Ray 
 laughed. 
 ��������"You're probably right about that.. But.. It's not 
 going to happen. By the way.. I forget to ask.. Do you know 
 what sex the baby is yet?" 
 ��������Ray fell silent for a short time. 
 ��������"Say that again.." 
 ��������Ray broke into a grin. 
 ��������"That's incredible news.. Why didn't you tell me that 
 the other night," Ray asked, then laughed at her answer. 
 ��������"That'll teach me to ask the right questions.. here's 
 another question for you.. Can I pick a name for the girl.. 
 I can.. Great.. I've already picked it.. Francesca." 
 ��������"Aha," Welsh crowed, working out Ray's little plan to 
 show his sister how grateful he was. 
 ��������"Yes.. I know it's my sister's name.. And if you want 
 to know why I want to call the girl after her, well, you're 
 just going to have to ask me to my face, Bye Caro." 
 ��������He flipped the phone closed. 
 ��������"That's how you're going show Francesca you're 
 grateful." 
 ��������Ray nodded with a little smile. 
 ��������"I thought her baby was Fraser's." 
 ��������"It... They are.." 
 ��������"Now I'm confused." 
 ��������"Meg and I were an item for a while... But that ended 
 after we got to Canada. But she thinks I'm the father. I 
 gave up trying to convince her otherwise.. I'm not going to 
 argue with her about it. She's *thrilled* to bits that I'm 
 finally admitting they're mine." 
 ��������"They?" 
 ��������"She's having twins. A pigeon pair, they worked it out 
 during her ultrasound's." 
 ��������"Uh-hu. If you're not careful, that wedding joke may 
 become a reality." 
 ��������"Oh, Meg has no interest in getting married. She likes 
 things the way there are.. or were. And regardless of what I 
 said to Meg, the last person my mother would suspect of 
 fathering her baby is me. She knows as well as I do that I 
 can't have children which is why she doesn't waste her time 
 throwing women at me." 
 ��������"I remember all the effort you went to trying to start 
 a family with your wife.. That beeper of yours always seemed 
 to go off at the worst time." 
 ��������"Yeah.. And it almost got me killed." 
 ��������"I remember that too. And the time it went off when you 
 were in the middle of interrogating some one." 
 ��������Ray chuckled at the memory. 
 ��������"And the way you made him start talking.." 
 ��������"How could I forget - it took weeks to live that down." 
 ��������"Did it ever go off at anything but a bad time?" 
 ��������"Just once. I got so sick of it going off at the worst 
 times, that I worked out when it was most likely to go off 
 next, and made sure nothing would go wrong.. I was spot on. 
 Just as I was about to walk in the front door it went off. 
 You should have heard the screech Angie let out when I 
 walked in ten seconds later."���������������� 
 ��������Welsh laughed at that. 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Fourteen 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray blinked away as Doctor Paul Conti pulled back after 
 helping him to apply the special contacts which would 
 hopefully correct his vision. 
 ��������"Now these aren't *corrective* lenses, they're just 
 light filters, if your vision is blurred, tell me." 
 ��������Ray nodded and his hands kept moving up and down as he 
 fought the urge to rub at his eyes. The Doctor picked up his 
 goggles and held them over his face. 
 ��������"They don't work. Damn.. I was sure.." 
 ��������"No.. I mean.. They're just.. irritating."�������� 
 ��������The doctor lowered the goggles. 
 ��������"Alright. It takes a little while to grow accustomed to 
 lenses the first time. Now do you think you can stop 
 blinking for a few moments and let me take a closer look at 
 your eyes." 
 ��������Ray heard him flip his head set piece down and fought 
 the urge to blink and his eyes started focussing as the 
 Doctor leaned closer to examine his eyes. 
 ��������"No pain?" 
 ��������"I told you, they're just a little irritating, but I 
 s'pose I could get used to that." 
 ��������The Doctor smiled to himself, the pain he meant was the 
 pain Ray had complained about suffering whenever he was 
 exposed to any light brighter than a candle flame, the fact 
 Ray didn't register the pen light torch's light was a good 
 sign the contacts were filtering out the light the way they 
 were meant too. Putting his instrument in the tray, the 
 doctor reached for the eye drops. 
 ��������"Head back and no blinking." 
 ��������Ray obeyed. 
 ��������"O.K, now.. this should take care of that irritation." 
 ��������Ray felt the doctor run something along the bottom lid 
 of his eyes. 
 ��������"There we go.. You can blink away as much as you like 
 now." 
 ��������Ray did and the irritation stopped after a few more 
 blinks. 
 ��������"That's better." 
 ��������"Hmm.. Look around, can you focus now?" 
 ��������Ray looked around the room and slowly a smile touched 
 his face. 
 ��������"I can *see*. Charlene is sitting on a stool at the 
 back having a cup of coffee. Frannie was right, this place 
 does sparkle.." Ray said. 
 ��������The doctor gave a soft laugh as he babbled away 
 describing everything he could see in the room. Then Ray 
 looked back around and up at the Doctor and gave a little 
 laugh as he realised why his sister made sure she was never 
 late for any of her appointments. The Doctor was tall, well 
 built without being a muscle man and while with the cap and 
 surgical mask made it difficult to see his face, he had what 
 he imagined women called eyes to drown in. 
 ��������The Doctor held up a hand, one finger up. 
 ��������"Follow my finger please." 
 ��������Ray's eyes tracked it back and forth and up and down. 
 ��������"What colour is my gown?" 
 ��������"Claret." 
 ��������"O.K. what about this?" The Doctor asked reaching out 
 to pick up an instrument. 
 ��������"Orange." 
 ��������"And this?" 
 ��������"Emerald Green." 
 ��������"Close enough.." 
 ��������"What do you mean?" 
 ��������"The filter affects your ability to see colours. But 
 you can differentiate between one colour and the other."�������� 
 ��������"You mean I'm colour blind." 
 ��������"No. This is green..But it's fluro green.. The other 
 one is Fluro yellow, and my gown is red." 
 ��������"Bright Red?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Oh dear." 
 ��������"Can't be helped.. It took them 2 months to come up 
 with a pair of filtered lenses which would block out the 
 light but still allow you to see." 
 ��������"You mean they don't make lenses like these?" 
 ��������"They make all kinds. Including light filtering lenses. 
 Yours are experimental.. They've never had a request like 
 mine. And considered it quite a challenge. Here, can you 
 read what this says?" The Doctor said changing the subject 
 holding up an instrument still in sterile packaging. 
 ��������Ray focussed on it, the small lettering was just a blur 
 but he read out the brand name and other details which he 
 could make out. The Doctor pointed to the blurred details. 
 Ray shook his head. 
 ��������"I can't read that bit. It's just a blur." 
 ��������"I'll set up an appointment with the optometrist for 
 you." 
 ��������The Doctor set the instrument aside and reached for a 
 mirror holding it up. 
 ��������"But I think you can see well enough to see what you 
 look like now." 
 ��������Ray looked in the mirror then frowned. 
 ��������"A little ice should take care of the residual swelling 
 and the bruising will fade soon. Madeleine will give you a 
 make over before you leave and show you how to hide it." 
 ��������Ray raised a still mittened hand and reached out to 
 tilt the mirror. 
 ��������"Is there something wrong?" 
 ��������"Wrong?! I've got more hair on my head than I used to 
 have!" Ray almost wailed, then he touched his nose, "And my 
 nose is different.. You gave me a nose job, and I look at 
 least.. Ten years younger, this is terrible." 
 ��������"It is? Most of my patients would be *thrilled* to look 
 ten years younger." 
 ��������"Well I'm not!" Ray snapped, thinking of how this would 
 make it impossible to pretend nothing had happened with Meg. 
 ��������"Charlene, get the *before* snaps, please." 
 ��������His sister set her coffee aside, placing the lid on the 
 cup before she walked away to find the file in question. He 
 walked away with the instrument tray, the whole tray went 
 down the incinerator chute, then he peeled off his gloves 
 and tossed them in the incinerator and moved to the sink to 
 scrub up again, before pulling on fresh gloves and heading 
 back to the patient chair and pulling out a new tray from 
 the stand to place up top. 
 ��������"While we wait, let's have a look at that arm." 
 ��������"Which one?" 
 ��������"The one with the itch your sister told me you've been 
 complaining itches all the time about at home and never 
 mentioned to me." 
 ��������"Ah so you've been using my sister to spy on me." 
 ��������"Male patients, are the worst kind, you *never* tell me 
 if you feel any unusual aches, pains, tingles or itches. For 
 all you know your arm could be ready to drop off from 
 gangrene, all because enduring pain without complaint is the 
 macho thing to do." 
 ��������Ray held his arm up and the doctor reached for the 
 scissors and began cutting through the special bandages that 
 covered Ray's arm. 
 ��������"That's why I decided to go with you." 
 ��������"What do you mean?" 
 ��������"I mean out of all the Doctors I could have gone with 
 to carry out the follow up treatment, I chose you because 
 Frannie said this place was so clean it sparkles. You're so 
 fanatical about cleanliness that there's no way I could get 
 an infection or anything like that." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Mrs Vecchio stood on the porch watching as Fraser 
 helped Meg to alight from the cab which was parked in the 
 drive. Frannie skidded to a stop beside her. 
 ��������"Was that your brother? He was supposed to be back over 
 an hour ago," Mrs Vecchio hissed in an aside. 
 ��������"That was the Doctor. He said something went wrong."�������� 
 ��������Mrs Vecchio's head swung around and she pinned Frannie 
 with her gaze. 
 ��������"*What* went wrong?" 
 ��������"I don't know," Franni said, smiling and wiggling her 
 fingers at Fraser, "He just said, something went wrong and 
 he took Ray to the hospital, for tests. He's going to be 
 there all night." 
 ��������"I will kill him." 
 ��������"Who, Ray or the Doctor?" 
 ��������"The Doctor." 
 ��������"Do you think you can wait till he finishes treating my 
 burns.. One last session and I'll be scar free." 
 ��������"Fine, I will kill him later." 
 ��������Francesca's eyes widened when Fraser moved to the side, 
 and she got her first good look at Meg in over a year. 
 ��������"Migod... She's huge." 
 ��������"She's having twins. They're due within a month" 
 ��������"That explains it." 
 ��������"Remember not a word about what happened to your 
 brother.. As far as they're concerned he's been undercover 
 these last few months." 
 ��������"I know, I know.. She's soooo delicate, she has to be 
 handled with kid gloves, etcetera, etcetera... Maybe it's a 
 good thing he's not here.. He is sooo clucky." 
 ��������"Let me do all the talking. 
 ��������Frannie rolled her eyes, and her mother gave Fraser a 
 big smile as he helped Meg up the stairs. 
 ��������"Welcome back, Benton, you're looking much better." 
 ��������"Thank-you.. Have you.." 
 ��������"Met Meg.. Yes. Come inside, get off your feet," Mrs 
 Vecchio said as she moved to take Meg's other arm. 
 ��������Fraser looked at Francesca noticing the gloves on her 
 hands and the bandages that were covering her arms. 
 ��������"What happened to..." 
 ��������"My arms. Let's just say young children and matches 
 don't mix." 
 ��������"Oh Dear."�������� 
 ��������Mrs Vecchio sent a little prayer of thanks upwards 
 Frannie's "story" was both simple and believable and hoped 
 she didn't decide to embellish it, but knowing her youngest, 
 she was about to do that. 
 ��������"Francesca take care of their bags," Mr's Vecchio cut 
 in just as Franni opened her mouth to add a little detail to 
 it. 
 ��������Francesca rolled her eyes and headed for the cab while 
 her mother took care of their guests, almost dragging Fraser 
 in as he instinctively tried to assist Frannie. 
 ��������"Where's Ray?" Meg asked. 
 ��������"Ray is out. He had some business to attend to, he 
 thought he would be home before you arrived. But it seems 
 you beat him home," Mrs Vecchio said as she lead them to the 
 lounge and made Meg sit. 
 ��������Fraser looked around and rustled up a foot stool for 
 her to put her feet up, while Mrs Vecchio slipped a few 
 cushions behind Meg's back. 
 ��������"How is that?" 
 ��������Meg settled back, wiggling a little, then gave a weak 
 smile and a nod. 
 ��������"Much better.. After that trip, my back is killing me." 
 ��������"I'll just go help Francesca with the bags," Fraser 
 announced preforming a perfect about face and marching off.�������� 
 ��������Mrs Vecchio sent a prayer upwards that her stubborn 
 offspring would refrain on embellishing her story while he 
 was helping her. 
 ��������"Would you like something to drink?" 
 ��������"Coffee and make it fast, before he gets back." 
 ��������With a little chuckle Mrs Vecchio bustled off. 
 ��������"He's one of those men." 
 ��������"Cluckity Cluckity cluck cluck cluck." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Fraser helped Meg down the staircase, where Mrs Vecchio 
 met them, wiping her hands on a tea towel. 
 ��������"Did Ray come back last night?" 
 ��������"Yes," Mrs Vecchio lied, "You were sleeping when he 
 arrived and he chose to sleep on the couch rather than wake 
 you. You missed him by half an hour." 
 ��������"Where did he go?"�������� 
 ��������"I have no idea. He was out the door before I could ask 
 him, though he did say something about house hunting. Were 
 you planning..?" 
 ��������"Meg nodded." 
 ��������"Yes. It's not that we don't appreciate your 
 hospitality. It's the stairs." 
 ��������"I understand completely." 
 ��������The front door opened and Frannie bounded in, Ray's 
 keys in hand, a big shoulder bag hanging at her hip with a 
 map sticking out of it. 
 ��������"Good, You're up. Are you ready to go?" 
 ��������"Go where?" 
 ��������She pulled out the map and a note pad. 
 ��������"House hunting." 
 ��������Meg and Fraser shared looks. 
 ��������"There's a great cafe near the first place on Ray's 
 list. We can get breakfast there. The car's open Benton, why 
 don't you help Meg into the car. And don't say it Ma, You 
 know exactly what Ray thinks about Meg staying here, in her 
 condition," Frannie said rapid fire. 
 ��������Her mother threw her hands up and walked away. 
 ��������"Ray isn't joining us?" 
 ��������"He's already seen all these places, and has his 
 favourite, which is last on the list," Frannie lied, she'd 
 been out canvassing every real estate agent in town to find 
 decent houses for rent and knew exactly what the last house 
 on the list looked like, it had been the one the family 
 rented to be near Ray at the hospital. 
 ��������"He asked me to take you around," She said, that much 
 was the truth. 
 ��������"Why isn't he joining us?" 
 ��������"He didn't tell you?" 
 ��������"We missed him." 
 ��������"Oh.. He had to go to court.. He could there all day." 
 ��������"Ah," Meg and Fraser both chorused. 
 ��������Then Fraser began leading Meg to the door. Frannie 
 moved after her mother and cornered her in the kitchen. 
 ��������"Did you see him?" Mrs Vecchio said in a low tone. 
 ��������Frannie nodded. 
 ��������"How is he?" 
 ��������"Do you remember how he kept complaining he had an itch 
 was driving him up the wall and rubbing at his arm?" 
 ��������Her mother nodded. 
 ��������"It was itching for a reason, he had an infection... He 
 could loose his arm." 
 ��������Mrs Vecchio closed her eyes at that. 
 ��������"He said, Doctor Conti exploded when he saw his arm and 
 called him every name for idiot under the sun for not 
 telling him about that itch before now. He shut his surgery 
 down to take Ray to the Hospital and he's doing everything 
 he can to beat the infection without going that far." 
 ��������"How is Ray taking it?" 
 ��������"He's pretty out of it.. They've got him on pain 
 killers and antibiotics, he could barely stay awake to talk 
 to me and tell me what to do." 
 ��������"We can't afford this now.. There's no money left." 
 ��������"You don't have to worry about it, Doctor Conti is 
 paying for everything out of his own pocket." 
 ��������"He is???"�������� 
 ��������"They preformed tests.. They're waiting on the 
 results.. The tests should tell them what caused the 
 infection and once they know that they'll be able to work 
 out how his arm became infected.. The Doctor said, that no 
 matter what the results were - he would be covering 
 everything out of his own pocket. If the test's prove he got 
 the infection at the Doctor's surgery.. Ray will be 
 compensated.. How much he gets depends on what the end 
 result is." 
 ��������"We don't have to sue him?" 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������"That's what I said, he told me to ask him that 
 question when the whole matter is settled." 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray lay on his hospital bed, which had been sterilised 
 to within an inch of its existence by his Doctor's staff. 
 His infected arm was extended out from the bed resting on 
 sterile sheet, on a sterile stainless steel mobile table, 
 under a sterile tent that hid it from view. He could feel 
 hundreds of something's crawling all over his arm and kept 
 shuddering and wished he hadn't refused the Doctor's offer 
 to put him under again. 
 ��������He'd wanted to be more aware when Frannie returned, 
 now, even knowing that the gross treatment his arm was 
 undergoing was his last chance to keep it, but revolted none 
 the less he wished Doctor Conti would come back and make the 
 offer again. All he wanted to do was pull his arm away and 
 brush the creatures consuming the bad tissue away, among 
 other things. 
 ��������He heard the door open and listened to the foot steps. 
 He recognised them as Doctor Conti's. He listened to the 
 Doctor move to the side of his bed and heard the rustle of 
 cloth as the Doctor checked his arm. 
 ��������"Oh. Yes.. This is good.. This is very good." 
 ��������"Is it?" 
 ��������"I know what your arm looked like, but our little 
 friends here are showing me just how far the infection had 
 infiltrated your tissue. And it looks as if it didn't go as 
 deep as I feared. In fact it looks to me like it's 
 concentrated in and around the grafts." 
 ��������"My other arm?" 
 ��������"Looks clean so far." 
 ��������"You missed Frannie again." 
 ��������"I did.. And I wanted to talk to her about .." 
 ��������Ray snorted. 
 ��������"You just want to talk to her, period." 
 ��������He heard rustling, squeaks and other sounds of nervous 
 movment. 
 ��������"You've got the hots for my sister, haven't you?" 
 ��������He heard more nervous movement. 
 ��������"She's still a patient, I don't date patients." 
 ��������"But when you finish what you started and she's no 
 longer your patient, you'd like to see her, socially, 
 wouldn't you..?" 
 ��������"Is this when you give me the if you touch my sister, 
 I'll flatten you speech?" 
 ��������"No.. if you want to date my sister, that's fine with 
 me."�������� 
 ��������"It is???" 
 ��������"But if you mess with her, I'll kill you." 
 ��������Paul chuckled at Ray's threat.�������� 
 ��������"I'm Catholic, single, rich and a well respected member 
 of society. Who's on the prowl - for a wife, not a one night 
 stand." 
 ��������"Oh.. So you think my sister might be wife material?" 
 ��������"Can she cook?" 
 ��������"Uh-hu." 
 ��������"What's she like with kids?" 
 ��������"Great." 
 ��������"Any objections to your sister being *courted*." 
 ��������"Absolutely none at all." 
 ��������"Good, I hate sneaking around." 
 ��������Ray heard plastic tearing then felt something attached 
 to his forehead. 
 ��������"Let's go through the list again shall we. Any aches or 
 pains in new places?" 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"Any itch?" 
 ��������"Yeah, my nose." 
 ��������Another plastic tearing noise followed, he felt latex 
 covered fingers touch his face and his nose and checks 
 started to feel just a fraction warmer. 
 ��������"Hmmm.." 
 ��������"I *hate* hmmm's. I think Doctor's invented the Hmmm, 
 just to torture their patients a little." 
 ��������The Doctor chuckled. 
 ��������"Sorry.. I'm going to move something over your nose in 
 a minute.. Tell me when I touch the spot that itches." 
 ��������Ray gave a little nod and listened to him open 
 something else. He felt cool metal touch his nose and gently 
 slide over it. 
 ��������"Right there." 
 ��������The faint warmth returned for a short time then he 
 heard a bottle being opened and felt a dab of chill liquid 
 on the spot. The itch continued for a few seconds and 
 vanished. 
 ��������"There.. That should take care of it. Any other 
 itches?" 
 ��������"There's a really maddening one that keeps coming and 
 going on the sole of my foot," Ray said, lifting the foot in 
 question. 
 ��������He soon felt the blanket being turned up, and then the 
 touch of that cool liquid being smeared over the sole of his 
 foot before the blanket was drawn down and he heard the 
 doctor moving about. 
 ��������"Anywhere else?" 
 ��������"No, thank god.. That's the only *good* thing about 
 this whole disaster.. The itch was driving me insane. Now 
 it's gone.. I'd be estatic if you could just make those 
 creepy crawlies stay off the rest of my arm." 
 ��������"You can feel them?!" 
 ��������"Yeah... And it feels gross." 
 ��������"I know you're sick of hearing me say this but.." 
 ��������"That's a good sign." 
 ��������"Yes, but there's no reason you have to put up with 
 that, I'll give you a local, that will do the trick." 
 ��������"Could you do it, *now*.. In some ways, that's *worse* 
 than the itch." 
 ��������"What did I tell you?" The annoyed doctor asked. 
 ��������"To tell you if I felt any pain, but it's not exactly.. 
 Pain, it's just.. It's hard to describe.. the only word I 
 can think of is.. revolting." 
 ��������Ray heard rattling and plastic being torn, then 
 movement. A short time later he felt soft swabbing and a 
 prick as needle was put to use. That was followed by the 
 sound of the needle being tossed and more plastic being 
 torn. The whole procedure was repeated three more times. 
 ��������"There.. Now this one is really going to hurt, try not 
 to go through the roof, hmm. And don't even think of bitting 
 your lip, scream all you like.. but don't wreck my work." 
 ��������Ray gave a little chuckle at that then let out a scream 
 as the needle plunged home. 
 ��������"Migod, you weren't joking about that hurting," He 
 panted. "But I s'pose you're gonna say that's another one of 
 those good signs right." 
 ��������He heard rattling and felt the touch of fingers on his 
 arm. 
 ��������"That is a good sign isn't.." Ray's inquiry became a 
 loud scream and the Doctor's hand flew to his shoulder to 
 stop him moving. 
 ��������"Oh-god.. What did you do?" 
 ��������"Sorry." 
 ��������Ray screamed even louder and clawed at the bed with his 
 other hand as his arm was manipulated again. 
 ��������"OHGOD, STOP!" 
 ��������Ray arched off the bed as the next thing the Doctor did 
 produced the most agonising pain yet. He thought he was 
 going to pass out or throw up, maybe both. Then it eased off 
 and his whole arm was just a mass of throbbing pain and he 
 heard the rattling and plastic ripping. 
 ��������"God.. Give me the pain killer already." 
 ��������He felt the prick of a needle again, and the pain 
 slowly faded but along with the reduction of pain, came the 
 sensations that told him it wasn't the pain killer he was 
 given. 
 ��������"I said.. The pain killer..not the sedative," he 
 slurred as he fought the sedative's effects. 
 ��������He felt the touch of a hand, stroking his hair. 
 ��������"Stop fighting it, when you wake up, it'll be all 
 over." 
 ��������"Don't.. take my arm off.. Please.. I don wanna loose 
 my arm.." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������"I love this house, what do you think, Benton?" 
 ��������"It is certainly the best one we've seen so far." 
 ��������"We can turn that bedroom at the end of the hall into 
 an office, and that one in the middle would make a perfect 
 nursery." 
 ��������Frannie listened to Meg babble on about the house and 
 what they could do with it with a touch of annoyance. The 
 house *was* the best one they'd seen, it was better than the 
 one her family had rented in more ways than one. It was only 
 a few years old, it was in a nice street, all the rooms were 
 large and it had a chef's kitchen, a sensualists bathroom, 
 all marble and sparkling fixtures, a spa and pool in the 
 back. 
 ��������"We would have to have the pool fenced off and 
 covered." 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"Well once the children start walking it would be a 
 death trap. Toddlers and inground pools are a lethal 
 combinations, and that Spa would have to go, I read this 
 article that said.." 
 ��������Frannie smiled to herself as Fraser began to list all 
 the things that were in his opinion, band points about the 
 house, including it's perfectly landscaped gardens, French 
 doors, that beautiful bathroom. She felt better already. If 
 the way Fraser was shredding the house's best features was 
 anything to go by, he'd *loooove* the next and last place. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg sat on the porch stairs watching Ray's car, and 
 scowling at the traffic that ran past the house in a never 
 ending stream. Fraser and Francesca finally joined her on 
 the porch, Frannie locking up as Fraser babbled. 
 ��������"It is absolutely perfect. That room at the back would 
 make an excellent nursery, the room adjoining was obviously 
 an office once, I can see why Ray loved this place." 
 ��������"I can't." 
 ��������"Security," Fraser and Frannie said in unison. 
 ��������"Can we leave now? The traffic is giving me a head 
 ache," Meg grouched 
 ��������Fraser hurried to her side and helped her to her feet. 
 Frannie moved to help him. 
 ��������"You don't need to worry about the noise, the house is 
 sound proofed, you wouldn't even notice the noise if all the 
 doors and windows were closed, and the house is air 
 conditioned and well vented." 
 ��������"The walls make me nauseous, that wallpaper pattern is 
 truly horrendous, that carpet looks older than Raymond's 
 car. And the whole colour scheme is disgusting." 
 ��������"I'm sure that if you take out a long term lease that 
 they'll let you repaint and paper the house to your taste." 
 ��������"I am not going to waste my money renovating someone 
 else's home." 
 ��������"It would not be renovating," Fraser pointed out. 
 ��������"The walls in every room, and the carpet have to be 
 replaced." 
 ��������"That may be true, but beyond that everything else is 
 perfect. The house is solid, there is a large garage and 
 workshop out the back, the kitchen is ..." 
 ��������Frannie smiled to her self, her prediction was spot on, 
 Fraser was sold on the place. Now all she had to do was wait 
 for him to talk Meg around and join in whenever Meg brought 
 up something that Fraser couldn't come up with an answer to. 
 ��������"Did I forget to mention that the estate agent said 
 that if you took out a long term lease the owner would be 
 willing to recarpet the house?"�������� 
 ��������"He would?" 
 ��������"Yes, the estate agent said, that the owner had the 
 house completely sound proofed the last time he had a long 
 term tenant. And the house was completely rewired after the 
 last tenants moved out. The plumbing was all replaced too. 
 Now that all the major work is out of the way, he can get to 
 work on the cosmetic overhaul. You could probably make a 
 deal with him.. Do the work to your taste, in exchange for 
 the equivalent in rent free time." 
 ��������"That sounds like a fine arrangement." 
 ��������"I'll tell Ray to talk to him about it." 
 ��������"Hmmph," was all Meg had to say about it. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"Ray.. It's me Frannie. Are you awake? I can't tell 
 with those bandages covering your eyes." 
 ��������Ray's head moved as he responded to his sister's voice. 
 ��������"Good, you are awake, the Doctor said you might be out 
 of it, you were last night when I came back." 
 ��������"My arm.." Ray said his voice slurred. 
 ��������"Your arm is fine." 
 ��������"Not that one." 
 ��������"Don't worry the Doctor said it was all over now." 
 ��������"Took my arm off." 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"Still there?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Thank god.. Thought he was gonna take it off." 
 ��������"He said, if it was his choice, he'd have amputated, 
 but you made it pretty clear that it was to be the definite 
 last resort." 
 ��������"Wha elze he zay?" 
 ��������"Let's see.. The creepy crawlies did the trick, your 
 arm is free from infection now, they got the tests back, it 
 was a bacterial infection, they're trying to work out how 
 you contracted that. There is no way you got it in his 
 surgery. Which means he's in the clear on that one." 
 ��������"Zat's nize." 
 ��������"You're doped up again, aren't you?" 
 ��������"Yezzz.." 
 ��������"What else.. Er.. Don't even think of trying to move 
 your arm.. Not that you could, it's splinted from the 
 shoulder down to immobilise it. He said he hopes you're 
 willing to pay the price for keeping it." 
 ��������"What price?" 
 ��������"There was a lot of nerve and tissue damage. Once the 
 creepy crawlies did their work you went into surgery, and he 
 went to work on your arm. You won't have any sensation at 
 all in the affected area's, good or bad. You're gonna need a 
 lot more work on the arm." 
 ��������"Go home." 
 ��������"Not yet. You've got to go through another round of 
 skin grafts and he isn't going to do it right now. And there 
 all these tests he still has to run, you're not getting out 
 of here till he's preformed them all and got the results 
 back." 
 ��������"Wanna go home." 
 ��������He felt her hand on his hair. 
 ��������"Did I mention that you have more hair? He must have 
 given you a hair transplant and it's been hidden under those 
 bandages all this time.. Up the top, it's as long as you 
 used to wear your hair before you got that buzz cut. Long 
 enough to run your fingers through it. The back and sides 
 are longer. I bet Margaret will like that." 
 ��������"Meg.. O.K?" 
 ��������"She's a grump." 
 ��������"How does she look?" 
 ��������"Like a beached whale." 
 ��������"Be nize." 
 ��������"Apart from that, she's almost glowing with health, but 
 
 then she wouldn't dare be anything but, Fraser wouldn't let 
 her. You should see him, he's turned into a real mother hen. 
 She can't do anything without him hovering around her. He 
 controls everything she eats and drinks. He even makes her 
 exercise." 
 ��������"He does.. How?" 
 ��������"Little dumbbells and ankle weights that he straps on. 
 She lies on the bed and does all the exercises and I dropped 
 them off at a gymnasium, when I left she was hanging upside 
 down in a pair of gravity boots and he was giving her back a 
 massage and she was saying, "I love gravity boots, a little 
 lower Ben.. purrrr." 
 ��������Ray chuckled at that. 
 ��������"She says he gives the best massages, that's the only 
 reason she hasn't strangled him yet. And I don't blame her.. 
 He is worse than the Doctor." 
 ��������"What do you mean?" 
 ��������"He's turned into a clean freak.. He spent half the 
 night cleaning the house, the kitchen has never been 
 cleaner, neither has the lounge. The bathroom is so clean 
 everything gleams. He threw out the shower curtain and told 
 me to get a new one, and he went through your wardrobes and 
 drawers and organised everything to within an inch of its 
 life.. He did the same thing in the kitchen. He won't let Ma 
 wash up, he does that and uses boiling water." 
 ��������"Hmmm.. Meg mentioned that he has become obsessed with 
 cleanliness and order." 
 ��������"Obsessed is definitely the word for it." 
 ��������"How did the house hunting go? Did you find anything 
 decent?" 
 ��������"Oh, yes, there were four houses that were quite 
 decent, the house she liked was a real show home, and I mean 
 that literally. And the rental, well, let me tell you, 
 you're lucky Fraser said I won't move into that death trap." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"His favourite is the one I told you about. The one we 
 stayed in after your accident." 
 ��������"Ah." 
 ��������"She of course loathes the place." 
 ��������"Of course." 
 ��������"I have to talk to the estate agent about getting the 
 walls redone. She loathes the paper, and says the colour 
 scheme is disgusting." 
 ��������"Leave it alone." 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"Leave it be." 
 ��������"I thought you said I should try to talk her into 
 agreeing to that house, because it's an urban fortress." 
 ��������"Not gonna rent.. Gonna buy it." 
 ��������"Ray you can't afford to.." 
 ��������"Can't afford to put petrol in the car, let alone buy a 
 new house.." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"No money left.. Paying for.. all the treatment.. took 
 everything I had saved up.." 
 ��������"I'll pay you back." 
 ��������"Don wan your money.. Don need your money.. Bank 
 manager.. said.. I couldn't get a loan.. No money coming 
 in.. Gotta sell the house.. Talked to the real estate 
 agent.. He took a tour of the house while you were both 
 out.. He said we could get a real good price for the place.. 
 I'm hoping..there'll be enough left over to pay off all the 
 bills and spruce that place up.." 
 ��������"You can't sell the house!" 
 ��������"My house, I can do what I want with it."�������� 
 ��������"But.." 
 ��������"Don worry.. You said that place has plenty of room.. 
 Muz have if the whole family moved in.. You and Ma..are 
 going to stay with us.. Where you'll all be nice and safe.." 
 ��������"I don't care I am not going to let you sell the 
 house." 
 ��������"Can' stop me.." 
 ��������"Watch me." 
 ��������"Like you could pay the bills.." 
 ��������"If you could get a loan to cover things until you can 
 get back to work would you reconsider." 
 ��������"Never going back to work.." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ������������������������ 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Fifteen 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Welsh was minding his own business, which at that 
 moment in time was tucking a file away in a cabinet, when a 
 tap on his door caught his attention. He looked around to 
 see Huey, with Francesca hovering behind him. At a signal 
 from the Lieutenant, Huey opened the door, poking his head 
 into the room. 
 ��������"Francesca would like to talk to you, she says it's 
 important." 
 ��������"Send her in." 
 ��������Huey ushered her in then closed the door. 
 ��������"Take a seat." 
 ��������Frannie sat while he moved to his own. 
 ��������"This is about your brother I assume." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Huey watched as Francesca walked out of the bullpen, he 
 was justifiably curious as to her reasons for being there, 
 and his discovery of said reasons was preceded by a whistle 
 from Welsh. When he looked around, it was to see Welsh 
 signalling him and he hurried to the office. 
 ��������"Should I follow her?" 
 ��������Welsh shook his head ushering him in, closing the door 
 behind him. 
 ��������"Why didn't you tell me Ray hasn't been home?" 
 ��������"He's not there?" 
 ��������"No he's not. He's in the hospital." 
 ��������"Again? Did he have an accident?" 
 ��������"No. Those damn burns of his became infected. According 
 to Francesca they came within a hair's breath of amputating 
 his arm because of the infection." 
 ��������Huey gave a little wince at that. 
 ��������"I just spoke to his doctor over the phone. He's 
 history as a police officer. It's all over except the 
 paperwork. He's never going to regain use of that arm. And 
 his sight is permanently impaired." 
 ��������"Maybe he can do something else, he's a great profiler, 
 it would be a pity to.." 
 ��������"Run that by me again???" 
 ��������"He's the one who did those profiles for me."�������� 
 ��������"You're joking.. He was practically on his death bed 
 when you came up with the first one." 
 ��������"I know.. that's what was so incredible about it." 
 ��������"Are you sure he came up with it?" 
 ��������"The Smitheson case *was* his case before the accident, 
 hell there were details in that profile and the notes 
 attached to it that weren't in the records, and others that 
 were but they definitely weren't public knowledge, no one 
 asked to see the records, the only person who could have 
 written it was Ray." 
 ��������"He couldn't even talk how on Earth did he..?" 
 ��������"Ah, that was the Dragon Lady's contribution," Huey cut 
 in, "She brought in a brace for his hand a writing stand. By 
 the time I visited him he was getting pretty good with it. 
 Had no trouble at all communicating. I guess he wrote 
 everything up and gave it to her to type it up nice and 
 neat." 
 ��������"I thought it was done by the FBI's Master Profiler." 
 ��������"No, he just wrote a cover note, backing up Ray's 
 profile. He told me the man was his profiling coach and that 
 if his first one helped me to crack the case he'd be doing 
 it a lot more often in the future when he got back to work. 
 But he didn't come back." 
 ��������"How did you get the rest?" 
 ��������"I bumped into him while he was out walking Deif 
 around, just before he went to Canada, he told me all about 
 his plans.. He even said that Thatcher had plans to get him 
 into the FBI's profiler accreditation scheme.. So he'd come 
 back to work with better skills than he left with." 
 ��������"Hmmm..." 
 ��������"Any way.. I used the information I got out of him that 
 day to track him down when I ran into a brick wall on the 
 Weisman case, he was thrilled to hear from me and didn't 
 mind a bit when I asked him if he could do a profile for me. 
 I sent him everything I had on the case.. Two weeks later it 
 came back with the profile that helped me break it.. And you 
 know that that profile was even better than the Smitheson 
 Profile. It was so good the D.A used it during the trial. 
 When I told Ray that, he said he'd be happy to do it again, 
 any time I really needed one." 
 ��������"And he did do it.. three more times." 
 ��������"And we got a conviction on all those cases, thanks to 
 his work.. That's gotta be worth something." 
 ��������Welsh slapped Huey on the arm, and started leading him 
 to the door. 
 ��������"Oh, it's worth something alright, you may just have 
 saved the Vecchio's house." 
 ��������"What? Is he going to lose the house?" 
 ��������"Not any more.. Now, get going, you were supposed to 
 take over from Dewey half an hour ago." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"I know you're awake Ray." 
 ��������"I don wanna talk to you, go 'way." 
 ��������He heard paper snapping. 
 ��������"Do you know what I've got right here in my hot little 
 hands?" 
 ��������"A piece of paper." 
 ��������"A cheque.. From the CPD." 
 ��������"What??" 
 ��������"And another one from Lieutenant Welsh." 
 ��������"What did you do Francesca?" 
 ��������"I went to the station and had a talk to him. He came 
 around this morning and gave me the cheques." 
 ��������"What are they for?" 
 ��������"The one from the Lieutenant is a loan, you can pay him 
 back later, with interest.. The other is Payment for 
 services rendered.." 
 ��������"What services?" 
 ��������"He said it was for some Profiling work you did for 
 Huey.. Huey forget to mention you were the profiler who did 
 the work, when he found out, he talked to the Chief, who 
 talked to the Commissioner about it, who talked to someone 
 else about it, found out what the going rate for profilers 
 is and now - you're $9000 better off." 
 ��������"I am.." 
 ��������"And that's how you're gonna pay back the loan. You're 
 gonna finish your studies get your certification and become 
 an accredited profiler. Or else." 
 ��������"Or else what?" 
 ��������"The Luitenant'll come around and put you out of your 
 misery, that's what." 
 ��������Ray chuckled. 
 ��������"Now.. About the house." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray listened to what was for him the distinctive sound 
 of his Doctor crossing the room. 
 ��������"Your timing's atrocious, Doc." 
 ��������"It is, why?" 
 ��������"You just missed Frannie again." 
 ��������"I did??" 
 ��������"Yeah, she came around to do a little gloating.." 
 ��������"Damn.." 
 ��������Ray chuckled. 
 ��������"Well.. You sound much better. Whatever she came to 
 gloat about seems to have done wonder's for your mood." 
 ��������"It did.. This is one time, I don't mind being wrong." 
 ��������Ray listened to the Doctor moving to the side of the 
 bed and heard the sounds that always preceded one of his 
 examinations. 
 ��������"She told me you got the test results back.." 
 ��������"We can make sure the infection doesn't take hold again 
 with antibiotics now." 
 ��������"So do you know where I got it? I doubt it was your 
 surgery, you're so much of a clean freak, a germ wouldn't 
 stand a chance there." 
 ��������"In a manner of speaking I did give it to you, it was 
 the skin we cloned for the grafts." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"It's not the first time it's happened, though it's 
 never happened to me before. The lab the cloning is carried 
 out in must be absolutely sterile, the nutrient solution we 
 clone the tissue in would be heaven to germs, they'd 
 multiply like crazy in it." 
 ��������"And that's what happened. All my grafts are gonna turn 
 black and.." 
 ��������"You're talking to the clean freak, remember," The 
 Doctor cut in. "I had 12 different batches cloned. The fact 
 that has been no sign of cross infection is what made me 
 suspect it was the grafts. I was right, 3 batches were 
 contaminated. But I always make sure there's more than I 
 need, so that I can use the rest for tests.. The last thing 
 I want is to discover a patient has allergies to some lotion 
 I use or prescribe. According to my records the batch I used 
 on your arm was cloned when the contaminated batches were 
 produced." 
 ��������"And the rest weren't?" 
 ��������"They did them in batches of four.. The last batch of 
 four was contaminated. Every thing else would appear to be 
 clean." 
 ��������"How did it get contaminated?"�������� 
 ��������"That's what I'd like to know.. I've reported it, there 
 will be an investigation, and you shouldn't be surprised if 
 a lawyer comes around and tries to sweet talk you into 
 accepting a pittance in compensation to get them off the 
 hook." 
 ��������"Compensation.." 
 ��������"You have a right to sue them for what happened. Now 
 take my advice.. He's going to make you an offer. Nod and 
 say, that'll do, for starters." 
 ��������Ray chuckled. 
 ��������"I have a question for you now. Why did you say my 
 efforts to give you your looks back terrible? It's been 
 driving me crazy." 
 ��������Ray smiled faintly. 
 ��������"My lady doesn't know what happened to me.. She's 
 pregnant and the Doctor said, if she didn't reduce the 
 stress she was under she'd loose the baby. I was hoping I 
 could pretend it never happened with her." 
 ��������"And how did you keep her ignorant?" 
 ��������"She was in Canada.. I came back home for a break.. And 
 this happened.. I'm a cop, she's a Mountie.. She thinks I've 
 been on an undercover assignment. But now she's gonna take 
 one look at my face and .." 
 ��������"Is she as beautiful as your sister?" 
 ��������"In her own way."�������� 
 ��������"In the interests of a harmonious relationship with my 
 future brother in law.. I have a suggestion.. A good quarter 
 of my patients are people who simply want to look good for 
 their lover or spouse." 
 ��������"It doesn't matter any more. She came back here.. She 
 arrived the other day.. I was supposed to be there to greet 
 her.. Frannie can only explain away my non appearance for so 
 long." 
 ��������"I'm sure they noticed her arms, what did she tell them 
 happened to her arms?" 
 ��������"Short and sweet, Kids and matches don't mix.. and left 
 the rest up to their imagination." 
 ��������"Good explanation." 
 ��������"She already told them I got burned too. So they 
 wouldn't ask questions about my arms. But that was before 
 Frannie found out what went wrong." 
 ��������"I assume there is a very good reason you would prefer 
 it if your lover didn't find out the truth." 
 ��������"Yeah.. We've been taking care of a friend of ours, who 
 was left for dead by a guy who's since escalated his level 
 of violence to outright murder.. And the same guy who messed 
 him up is the one responsible for what happened to me." 
 ��������"And you're concerned he might come back to finish the 
 job." 
 ��������"Very.. She's also a potential target.. Right now he's 
 in Canada.. Which is why I'm glad she's back here now.. And 
 I'd like to keep them as ignorant as possible about him for 
 as long as possible.. Or at least keep her ignorant until 
 the babies are born. He's on the mend at last but he's still 
 got a long way to go.. Something set him off back home in 
 Canada.. And he's likely to go right off the deep end if he 
 finds out what's happening .. I need time to work with him, 
 so that he won't go to pieces if this guy isn't caught 
 before he decides it's time to finish what he started." 
 ��������"And when is the baby due." 
 ��������"Sometime within the next month..She's having twins 
 actually, and I hear twins usually decide to enter the world 
 early." 
 ��������"So all you need to do is keep it from her for another 
 month.. Is your sister coming back tonight?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"Did you arrange for a visit at a specific time?" 
 ��������"She said she'd be back around 6." 
 ��������"Hmmmm.." 
 ��������"Again with the Hmmm." 
 ��������"Sorry.. Tell me about your friend. What does he look 
 like?" 
 ��������"Everywhere we go, women drool.. Even Frannie does it. 
 And it's not just because he's so good looking, he's oh so 
 polite, when the came up with the word Gentleman, they had 
 him in mind. And whoever said chivalry is dead never met 
 him." 
 ��������"It will work." 
 ��������"What will work?" 
 ��������"Does Francesca know what you've been doing?" 
 ��������"Yes. I explained it all the other day." 
 ��������"And your mother." 
 ��������"She knows too." 
 ��������"It will definitely work." 
 ��������"What will work?" 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Fraser was heading for the kitchen to make Meg a cup of 
 herbal tea when he heard Frannie's voice. 
 ��������"Paul says it'll be a few more days before the bruises 
 fade and the swelling goes down. Then he can come home." 
 ��������"So all we have to do is find a way to keep them from 
 realising Ray hasn't been in the house for a few more days," 
 Mr's Vecchio's voice carried to Fraser's ears. 
 ��������Fraser stopped dead in his tracks. 
 ��������"I'm running out of ideas here." 
 ��������"Come up with new ones, or you will spoil your 
 Brother's surprise." 
 ��������"I think it's a pretty stupid surprise." 
 ��������"Francesca.." 
 ��������"Well it is, she didn't fall in love with his looks in 
 the first place, having cosmetic surgery to look better for 
 her is just plain stupid.. I could think of better ways to 
 spend a few thousand dollars." 
 ��������Fraser's brows defected. 
 ��������"Meg said he wasn't taking care of himself properly in 
 the first place, his confidence was low, you said it 
 yourself, when you picked him up from the airport he looked 
 terrible.. If having this surgery gives him back his 
 confidence, then it will be worth every dollar.." 
 ��������Fraser started backing up. 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg jumped when Fraser rushed into the room. 
 ��������"Benton, don't do that to me." 
 ��������Fraser looked at Meg closing the door and leaning 
 against it. 
 ��������"What's wrong? Something frightened you." 
 ��������He shook his head. 
 ��������"I.. heard them.. Talking about Ray." 
 ��������"Oh.. What did they say?" 
 ��������"He is not here.. He hasn't been here at all since we 
 arrived." 
 ��������"What? Why would they..?" 
 ��������"Lie.. I heard his mother say he wants to surprise 
 you.. That he.." 
 ��������"Stop right there Benton. Just answer yes or no." 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"Does the reason Ray hasn't been back here have 
 anything to do with the surprise he has planned for me." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"And it would spoil his surprise if you told me what 
 you heard, wouldn't it?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������She raised a brow and Fraser thought about it. 
 ��������"Spoiling his surprise would be.. bad." 
 ��������"Yes, Benton." 
 ��������"Then.. I will not tell you what I heard." 
 ��������"You can tell me one th.... Owwwitch," Meg yelped her 
 hand flying to her expansive belly. 
 ��������Fraser gave her a suspicious look. 
 ��������"Have you been drinking coffee again? You know that 
 coffee is bad for you, when you drink coffee they become 
 more active and move around and keep you awake all night and 
 then you're grumpy and being grumpy is not good for you." 
 ��������Meg rolled her eyes. 
 �������� 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray got no more than five paces into the house before 
 his mother descended on him, and hugged him till he thought 
 his ribs would crack. 
 ��������"Ma, I like to breath," he gasped. 
 ��������"Don't ever do that again." 
 ��������"It wasn't intentional." 
 ��������She stepped back and studied him. 
 ��������"What do you think?" 
 ��������She stepped back and took a good look. 
 ��������"I think it looks good." 
 ��������"Good.. You think it looks good, I think it looks 
 great." 
 ��������She laughed at that and nodded. 
 ��������"It does. Now show me your arms." 
 ��������Ray held out his arms and she slid back his sleeve 
 revealing an elastic brace that ran from the knuckle to the 
 elbow and beyond on the right arm. When she tugged back the 
 sleeve, his left arm was covered from the wrist to the elbow 
 and beyond with the same kind of brace, but there was a 
 metal brace with an elbow & wrist joint over it, and his 
 left hand was covered completely with a medical glove, the 
 metal brace extending up to his knuckles. 
 ��������"How long do you have to wear those?" 
 ��������"The one on the right.. For at least a few more weeks. 
 The one on the left, for quite some time to come. But this 
 time, I know that when they come off my arm's will look as 
 close to normal as Paul could get them." 
 ��������"Oh, now it's Paul, instead of The Doctor." 
 ��������"Get used to it, He's gonna start dropping in, he's got 
 *intentions*." 
 ��������"Intentions?" 
 ��������"Yeah, he wants to court Frannie." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������Ray chuckled. 
 ��������"He is totally smitten with her.. And it's a sure bet 
 she isn't going to say no to him when he asks her out, the 
 man looks like Brad Pitt. Think, Interview with a Vampire 
 and you'll get the idea." 
 ��������She looked up into his eyes. 
 ��������"You *can* see.. You're not wearing those goggles any 
 more." 
 ��������He nodded. 
 ��������"He got me contact lenses which filter out most of the 
 light" 
 ��������"That's why your eyes have changed colour." 
 ��������"Right, I can't see as well as I used to, but, I had my 
 eyes tested after I got these, and he's ordered a special 
 pair of prescription lenses, but they'll take a while, cause 
 they're a special order. But I got a script for glasses that 
 I can use with these. The optometrist said they'd be ready 
 tomorrow." 
 ��������"That's one less thing you have to explain." 
 ��������"Did.. you.. set things up for me?" 
 ��������"You know that Francesca has an inbuilt radar that 
 tells here where Fraser is." 
 ��������Ray chuckled at that. 
 ��������"We set things up.. He's *overheard* us discussing it 
 three times." 
 ��������"Good." 
 ��������"Is that Ray?" Frannie called out. 
 ��������Ray looked around, to watch Frannie approach then stop 
 dead in her tracks, her eye's widening and her jaw dropping. 
 ��������"Oh-mi-God." 
 ��������He chuckled. 
 ��������"You look..." 
 ��������He gave her the wind up sign. 
 ��������"Great.." 
 ��������He laughed at that. 
 ��������"Where are they?" 
 ��������"Up stairs.. Fraser is Maria's room, sleeping, Meg is 
 in yours." 
 ��������"Is she awake?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������Ray took a deep breath and headed for the stairs. 
 ��������"Time to face the music." 
 ��������"Hold it right there." 
 ��������Ray stopped looking at his mother. 
 
 ��������"I know what you are planning to do. Move out again. In 
 her state.. I won't hear of it, We'll convert the dining 
 room into a bedroom, that way she won't have to deal with 
 the stairs," his mother stated firmly. 
 ��������"I knew you'd say that.. But we're doing it anyway, the 
 maniac who sent me that surprise parcel is still out and on 
 the loose, and after what Welsh told me there is no way I am 
 going to risk the family by staying here a minute longer 
 than I have too. End of discussion." 
 ��������"He thinks your dead." 
 ��������"We don't know that, that damn surprise package was 
 meant to disfigure not kill and he's gone from random acts 
 of aggravated violence to murder and arson and there's a 
 chance that he could come after Meg next, and if he comes 
 after her he's gonna find out about me and Fraser.. And 
 that's why we're outta here as soon as I can find a safe 
 place to move into. I don't want anyone else getting hurt 
 like Frannie was." 
 ��������"I'm going to take him over to the place we rented, 
 Ma." 
 ��������Their mother looked at around. 
 ��������"The house near the hospital?" 
 ��������Frannie nodded. 
 ��������"In her state she should be close to the hospital. And 
 It was like a fortress." 
 ��������Her mother nodded. 
 ��������"Yes, I remember that. Bars on every window and 
 security shutters." 
 ��������"Sounds good to me," Ray said, "The question is wether 
 or not it's still available?" 
 ��������"It is, I put a deposit down, so they'd hold it till 
 you got out of hospital so you could look at it." 
 ��������"Fine, if it's O.K with you, we'll take a look at it 
 tomorrow," Ray said. 
 ��������Frannie nodded. 
 ��������"Great, can we make it around 9ish?" 
 ��������"Sure, but we've got all day." 
 ��������"No, we don't.. Paul is reopening his surgery tomorrow, 
 and he's got your name at the top of his list of rescheduled 
 appointments.. You're down for 10.. First patient of the 
 day. He wants to get your treatment over and done with." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"What's the matter, I thought you'd be happy to have 
 the treatment over and done with." 
 ��������"I am." 
 ��������"Fine.. Find something really good to wear.." 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������"I could be wrong, but the Doc was always sooo 
 disappointed when I told him he just missed you.. I think 
 he's got the hots for you, so wear something nice and you 
 never know.. he might ask you what your doing later when 
 he's through." 
 ��������"Isn't he married to Charlene?" 
 ��������"Charlene? She's his sister. Trust me, this guy is 
 Interested with a capital I. Play your cards right and you 
 could reel this one in and land him." 
 ��������"Are you doped again?" 
 ��������"What you think I can't tell when a guy is interested 
 in my sister.. Trust me, he's interested." 
 ��������"Yeah right, when he's got his pick of the most 
 gorgeous women in town strutting through his surgery every 
 day. Beside's.. It's true what they say." 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"That all the cute ones are Gay." 
 ��������Ray laughed. 
 ��������"Like Benton." 
 ��������"Benton is not Gay.. He's Bi," Ray said before he 
 turned and headed up the stairs, he stopped at the first 
 landing and looked back. 
 ��������"Oh, By the way, I would appreciate it if we we're 
 disturbed, Meg and I have a lot to discuss. " 
 ��������Frannie turned to her mother as Ray started bounding up 
 the stairs again. 
 ��������"Translation, he's gonna prove that Italian men like 
 their women big." 
 ��������Ray stopped dead and peered over the railing. 
 ��������"Francesca, were you eavesdropping on my conversation 
 with Lieutenant Welsh???" 
 ��������"Were you talking to him, I thought you were talking to 
 her on the phone." 
 ��������"I was you eavesdropper." 
 ��������"I wasn't eavesdropping. I just heard part of your 
 conversation on my way to the laundry." 
 ��������"Sure you did." 
 ��������"You know if you keep this up, she's going to fall 
 asleep before you get up there." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg was propped up with numerous pillows on Ray's bed, 
 reading when the door opened, quietly and Ray's hand slipped 
 around the frame to turn off the light. She looked up as the 
 door opened all the way to see Ray silhouetted in the door. 
 ��������"How's my favourite beached whale?" He quipped as he 
 approached the bed. 
 ��������Her smile became a look of confusion, and he moved to 
 the edge of the bed to sit at her side. 
 ��������"How are you feeling?" 
 ��������She reached out to turn the lamp on, did a double take 
 when she saw him in the light. 
 ��������"Are you wearing a wig?" 
 ��������He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. 
 ��������"No.. That's all the real thing. I had a hair 
 transplant.. Among other things." 
 ��������"You had cosmetic surgery!" 
 ��������He nodded. 
 ��������"Do you like it?" 
 ��������She reached out to touch his face. 
 ��������"Why did you.." 
 ��������"Now no one is gonna ask why you're with me instead of 
 Fraser." 
 ��������Meg worked out what his little surprise was. 
 ��������"And I wanted to look good, for you. And I think it was 
 worth it.. Everyone kept telling how terrible I looked now 
 it's Migod, you look great," He said smiling. 
 ��������"You.. Do.." 
 ��������He smiled even more. 
 ��������"But." 
 ��������The smile vanished. 
 ��������"But what?" 
 ��������"How could you *waste* so much money.. That must have 
 cost you a fortune.. And your about to become a father too, 
 how could you.." 
 ��������"Don't worry about the money.. It didn't cost me a 
 cent." 
 ��������"What???" 
 ��������Ray held up his arm, the sleeve fell back showing his 
 brace and the glove. 
 ��������"Frannie told you about the fire the kids lit and how 
 we got burned trying to put it out." 
 ��������She nodded. 
 ��������"The Doctor we've been seeing to get the burns treated 
 is a cosmetic surgeon, he's the best around. He did the work 
 on my face gratis. Well not exactly gratis, he gave me my 
 money back." 
 ��������"Why?"�������� 
 ��������"He's got the hots for Frannie, and thought it was a 
 good way to get into his potential brother in law's good 
 books." 
 ��������"Potential brother in law???" 
 ��������"Oh yeah, he's gonna start courting her soon." 
 ��������"He's not courting her now?" 
 ��������"She's still his patient, and he doesn't date 
 patients.. But once he zaps the last of her scars away, 
 she's not gonna be a patient any more. As for money, you 
 don't have to worry about any more.. Something went wrong 
 with one of my skin grafts.. I was gonna sue the pants of 
 the lab who's fault it was.. But Paul went and negotiated a 
 deal with them.. A law suit like mine could have them shut 
 down, permanently, over what they say was essentially a 
 freak accident.. They gave me a tour and explained how they 
 do everything and agreed to change one or two things, to 
 ensure an accident like that never happens again. I agreed 
 to take the deal they offered in exchange for dropping the 
 law suit.. And it was a two fold deal, they cover all the 
 bills that crop up as a result of what happened and 
 everyone's happy. And I get two pay outs.." 
 ��������"Two??" 
 ��������He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cheque and 
 handed it to her. She looked at it her eyes widening. 
 ��������"$250,000 dollars." 
 ��������"That's not going to last long.. I'm gonna use it to 
 buy a new house." 
 ��������"You said there were going to be two payments." 
 ��������"The second one will be decided once we know what the 
 end result of what happened is. But right now I've got 
 enough money to buy the house I was looking into buying, and 
 keep going till I finish my studies.." 
 ��������He reached out to run a hand over her belly. 
 ��������"And set things up right for these little miracles." 
 ��������He was going to say more, but he forget what he had in 
 mind when he felt a good strong kick against his hand and 
 Meg gave a little hiss. 
 ��������"Woah.. Now that's what I call a kick." 
 ��������"Move your hand to the other side." 
 ��������Ray did and felt a kick against his hand again, then 
 another. 
 ��������He spread his fingertips over the other side and felt 
 movement there. 
 ��������"My god.. They're having a party in there." 
 ��������"I should have listened to Fraser." 
 ��������"Oh, why?" 
 ��������"He keeps saying, you know what happens when you drink 
 coffee, they always get active." 
 ��������Ray chuckled and moved closer. 
 ��������"May I? 
 ��������She nodded and he leaned over her to put an ear to her 
 belly and listened to the beating of the babies hearts. 
 ��������"They sound pretty healthy... But then I'm no expert." 
 ��������"I've got ultrasound's somewhere in one of my bags. The 
 Doctor says, they're disgustingly healthy. But they wouldn't 
 dare be anything but.. Not after the way Fraser's been molly 
 coddling me. Nothing passes my lips that he didn't approve 
 of first, except the occasional cup of coffee." 
 ��������"Really." 
 ��������"He has been collecting magazines on the subject ever 
 since he found out. If I hear him quote one more so called 
 expert on the subject of having children, he's going to need 
 a nose job." 
 ��������Ray laughed. 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Sixteen 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Frannie stood on the porch of the urban fortress 
 watching Ray's car, until she heard footsteps approaching 
 and looked around to see Ray step onto the porch. 
 ��������"What do you think?" 
 ��������"I think it's perfect, security wise. That big room out 
 back connected to the office would make a perfect nursery 
 for the babies. And having 3 toilets, two showers *and* a 
 main bathroom is great, there wouldn't be any arguments 
 about needing the bathroom around here." 
 ��������"The best thing about it is that they all have separate 
 hot water systems." 
 ��������"Really, that's great. Did you notice the fittings in 
 that main bathroom, I'm positive this place was converted 
 for an invalid, Meg wouldn't have problems." 
 ��������"Except with the colour scheme." 
 ��������"I was talking about the bathroom. The colour scheme of 
 the place can be fixed. I love that office, did you see that 
 file room, and those built ins, it's perfect. Or would be.. 
 I'll have to rip out the door and replace it with a set of 
 French doors, then it'll be perfect.. And that kitchen's 
 great. I've never seen a refrigerator like that in a private 
 home.. It's huge and the amount of bench space in there is 
 fantastic. I am so sick of tiny kitchens with hardly any 
 bench space."�������� 
 ��������"Since when did you care about how much bench space a 
 kitchen had?"�������� 
 ��������"Since I started doing most if not all of the cooking 
 for our household." 
 ��������"Ah, then we'll have to get you to show us what you can 
 do in the kitchen." 
 ��������"Scratch that, I'm going to have to teach Fraser to be 
 a good cook or we're gonna be eating a lot of take away 
 food," he said holding up his hands, explaining why with 
 that one simple gesture. 
 ��������She laughed at that. 
 ��������"I couldn't find the key for that door that leads 
 upstairs, what's up there?" 
 ��������"Bedrooms, a study, with in built shelves and a window 
 seat, a storage closet, a kitchenette and another toilet." 
 ��������"Really, how many bedrooms?" 
 ��������"6." 
 ��������"6! With the two downstairs that makes 8 Bedrooms." 
 ��������"I think this place used to be some sort of medical 
 center. The big rooms downstairs were the surgical suits, 
 waiting room and offices." 
 ��������"Ah that explains the size of the rooms, that bathroom 
 and refrigerator.. How big are the rooms up stairs?" 
 ��������"Most are about the size of the office. There are two 
 that are the size of the room you're thinking of as a 
 nursery." 
 ��������"Great, Did you notice how big that dining room is? I 
 could turn that into a joint lounge/dining room and turn the 
 lounge into a pool room." 
 ��������"Did *you* notice that there's reverse cycle air 
 conditioning in every room in the house?" Frannie pointed 
 out. 
 ��������"Yes. What's it like in summer?" 
 ��������"Wonderful." 
 ��������"Great.. The only thing I'm a bit worried about is the 
 proximity to the road.. The traffic's pretty heavy around 
 here." 
 ��������"Don't worry, the noise won't bother you. I think the 
 house has been sound proofed, the only time we ever noticed 
 the traffic noises was when a window was open. Go back in 
 and close the door and you won't hear it, trust me." 
 ��������"O.K.. I'm sold on it.. Let's go," he said bounding 
 down the stairs. 
 ��������Frannie shook her head at it and followed after him. 
 ��������"Don't you even want to know what the rent is like?" 
 ��������"I already told you, Frannie, I'm not renting, I'm 
 gonna buy it." 
 ��������"I thought we had a deal.." 
 ��������"I said I wasn't going to sell the house to buy this 
 place. I didn't say I wouldn't buy this place if I liked 
 it." 
 ��������"So how do you think you're going to buy this place? 
 with the money from Welsh and your back pay you *might* have 
 enough for a deposit, but Margaret would be the one who'd 
 have to keep up the repayments and she hates the place. The 
 only way you'd convince her to go for it would be to spruce 
 the place up and you wouldn't have any money left to do that 
 with and..." 
 ��������Ray pulled the cheque out of his pocket and held it 
 out. She trailed off taking the cheque to look at it and 
 stopped dead. 
 ��������"Where did you get this?!" 
 ��������"It's part of the compensation pay out for what 
 happened." 
 ��������"You could have got a lot more than this, Ray," Frannie 
 berated him. 
 ��������"And I *will*. That's just a fraction of what I'll get 
 in the end.. That's just hush money, to keep me from kicking 
 up a stink about until it's all settled," he said heading 
 for the car again. 
 ��������Frannie couldn't think of anything to say about it, and 
 followed him to the car. Opening the door she climbed in 
 stretching out to open the passenger side door for Ray. He 
 climbed in pulling the belt on, before he reached for the 
 door. 
 ��������"Belt up." 
 ��������She rolled her eyes, belting up before she started the 
 car. 
 ��������"By the way, I did mention that I expect you and Ma to 
 move in with us, didn't I." 
 ��������"I don't see why we have too. Maria and Tony took the 
 kids and.." 
 ��������"I didn't mean permanently, I meant until Dante is 
 dealt with, one way or another." 
 ��������"Did you tell her about him yet?" Frannie asked as she 
 turned the car around and waited for a break in the traffic. 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"You have to tell her sometime." 
 ��������"The lieutenant is in touch with the RCMP who are 
 tracking him, if he crosses the border, he'll know it, and 
 he'll let me know as soon as he gets the word, if that 
 happens before she has the twins, then I'll tell her. Other 
 wise, I'll wait till the twins are born, take her out for 
 the night, get her into a good mood, then tell her 
 everything." 
 ��������"Better make that a *really* good mood, she's gonna 
 kill you when she finds out you've been lying to her all 
 this time." 
 ��������"Tell me something I don't know.. I hope you don't mind 
 if I drop into the precinct after we talk to the agent. I 
 gotta give the Lieutenant that cheque he gave you back and 
 thank him.." 
 ��������"Are you forgetting my appointment. You made it." 
 ��������"Oh, yeah.. What's the time?" 
 ��������"You're the one with the watch." 
 ��������Ray patted his pockets and found his fob watch pulling 
 it out. 
 ��������"Hmm.. Better head for the surgery first. God only 
 knows how long all the paper work will take." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray was half way through a chapter in one of his 
 psychology text books when the door of the car opened. He 
 marked his page and looked around as Frannie climbed in 
 smiling like the cat that got the canary. 
 ��������"Well how'd it go?" 
 ��������"You were right, he *did* ask me out." 
 ��������He chuckled at that. 
 ��������"By the way, you know how you said tell me something I 
 don't know?" 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"Charlene thinks you're cute and wants to know if 
 you're taken." 
 ��������Ray laughed at that. 
 ��������"I hope you told her I'm spoken for." 
 ��������"He told her that you were not only spoken for but 
 about to become a father. She looked so disappointed." 
 ��������Ray chuckled, tucking his bag away into his bag as 
 Frannie belted up. 
 ��������"Paul asked me to give you this," Frannie said holding 
 out an envelope with a business card clipped to the front 
 with a paperclip. 
 ��������"So it's Paul now," he teased taking the envelope, and 
 looking at the card. "What's this for?" 
 ��������"He wants you to make an appointment with that 
 photographer, for photographs, so he can have *after* 
 photographs, for your files. And unless you object he'd like 
 to put your before and after pictures in his display to show 
 future patients." 
 ��������"Ah. Well.. I can hardly object to that now can I." 
 ��������"He said, take a look at the *before* pictures before 
 you make up you mind, you can say no if you want.. He'll 
 understand." 
 ��������Ray pulled the clip off and opened the envelope to pull 
 out the picture and for the first time saw what the acid did 
 to him. He shuddered at the first photo, which showed the 
 horrendous burns to his face, throat, chest and upper arms. 
 He flipped to the next one which showed his face in close up 
 and gave another shudder then ran a finger down his nose. 
 ��������"No wonder he gave me a nose job," he muttered. 
 ��������"He did a great job on your nose," Frannie commented as 
 she started up the car.�������� 
 ��������"I had no idea the damage was this bad. The way the 
 Doctor at the hospital went on I thought the burns to my 
 face were pretty mild." 
 ��������"He understated it." 
 ��������"That's for sure." 
 ��������He quickly flipped through the rest of the photo's each 
 new picture eliciting another shudder. Keeping the facial 
 shot separate he tucked the rest into the envelope and 
 studied the facial shot, trying to remain clinical about it 
 as he touched his face, thinking about the way he looked 
 now. After studying it for a time he tucked it away with the 
 rest and the envelope joined his book.�������� 
 ��������"Oooh-kay, Let's make the first stop the banks and see 
 if we can cash these cheques, then we can grab something to 
 eat before we go to the agent.. And after that we hit the 
 mall." 
 ��������"The mall? I thought you wanted to go to the precinct 
 to return that cheque." 
 ��������"Yeah, but we can go there later. I feel like.. Letting 
 my hair down.. I've been cooped up for months, it's time for 
 a little fun.. So after we get through with the agent we're 
 hitting the mall and going shopping, I was thinking of 
 taking Meg and Benni out for dinner, which means Benni needs 
 some decent clothes, and Meg need's a nice dress." 
 ��������"She needs more than a nice dress, her maternity 
 wardrobe is all huge t-shirts and sweat pants." 
 ��������"Fine, I'll get a few nice things. But the first thing 
 on the list is finding you the perfect outfit for your hot 
 date tonight.. Hmm and maybe a visit to the beautician and 
 the hair salon to get your hair done." 
 ��������She glanced at him for a second. 
 ��������"My treat. I'm feeling grateful, milk it for all it's 
 worth while you can." 
 ��������"O.K, are you feeling grateful enough to give me the 
 Riv, since you can't drive any more." 
 ��������"Don't push it." 
 ��������She chuckled. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray leaned on the counter at the most expensive dress 
 shop the mall had and watched Frannie do a twirl in a dress 
 that would make any red blooded American male look twice, 
 even if he happened to be a red blooded American gay male. 
 The sales assistant looked at Ray hopefully. 
 ��������"Show me what the other one looks like." 
 ��������Frannie dashed off to the change room again. 
 ��������"Well take that one too. Can you have them delivered to 
 our place?" 
 ��������"Yes, sir." 
 ��������"Great," Ray pointed to a white dress. And that one 
 too.. But not a word to her about it. I want to surprise 
 her." 
 ��������The assistant smiled and started adding up the cost of 
 the dresses. 
 ��������"And we'll have the one in the window too." 
 ��������"Which one?" 
 ��������"The green one," he said and smiled as an idea came to 
 him, "I'd like two of those.. Can I borrow your phone to 
 find out the other size." 
 ��������The assistant lead him around the sales desk and waved 
 at the phone. Ray looked at the cordless phone, and then 
 flipped it over and dialled the number. 
 ��������"Can you do alterations?" 
 ��������The assistant nodded. 
 ��������Ray picked it up and listened to it ring and ring, till 
 it was finally answered. 
 ��������"Hey Tony, it's me Ray.. Is Maria there? She is. Great. 
 Put her on I need to ask her a question." 
 ��������He waited for his sister to come to the phone, during 
 which time Frannie came out in another dress. 
 ��������"No way. No how, you look like a whore in that. Forget 
 it. Show me what you look like in the one I picked." 
 ��������"All you want to do is cover me up from head to toe," 
 Frannie declared as she flounced off back to the dressing 
 room. 
 ��������"I want you to look good, not cheap. You don't need to 
 flaunt the flesh to get a mans attention." 
 ��������"I take you don't want that outfit." The assistant 
 commented once Frannie was safely esconded in the dressing 
 room. 
 ��������"You got that right." 
 ��������Then his sister was on the line. 
 ��������"Maria, I'd love to chat but I don't have time for it, 
 I'm shopping and the assistant here let me borrow the phone. 
 I was thinking.. Mother's day is coming up soon have you got 
 something for Ma yet? No, great. I was thinking of giving 
 her something from all three of us this year, a portrait.. 
 You like the idea, great, I just saw a dress that would look 
 fantastic on you in a portrait, give me your dress size and 
 I'll get it." 
 ��������He listened to her babble about not being able to 
 afford to buy a new dress at the moment. 
 ��������"I said *I'll* buy it Maria, this is my treat.. Trust 
 me, you are going to love this dress. Now I'm going to give 
 the phone to the shop assistant I want you to tell her all 
 your details, before I change my mind." 
 ��������He handed the phone over and watched the assistant take 
 down Maria's details, asking for her hip, waist and bust 
 measurements taking those down before she handed the phone 
 back to Ray. 
 ��������"Yeah, I'm back.. No.. I haven't made the appointment 
 yet, I'll let you know when it's all set and get Frannie to 
 drop the dress off, with a little something extra, so you 
 can get your hair down for the portrait, and buy the little 
 rug rat's something nice to wear. Oh and Tell Tony to find a 
 nice suit. Something in green or brown. Well of course he's 
 gonna be included in the portrait... Oh.. Fine, take him 
 shopping and find something and tell them to hold it and 
 I'll pay for the damn suit then.. I really gotta go. I'll 
 talk to you later." 
 ��������He hung up and rolled his eyes making the assistant 
 chuckle. 
 ��������"Can you make out separate bills? I don't want Frannie 
 to work out I'm buying more than one dress. I'll come back 
 and pay for the bulk of it after I leave her in the clutches 
 of a beautician." 
 ��������"I think we can do that.." 
 ��������"Great.. I'll also have that dress, that dress and that 
 one over there in Maria's size." 
 ��������"If I can make a suggestion, sir?" 
 ��������"Sure." 
 ��������The assistant put a hand on his back and lead him to 
 the door and pointed across the way. 
 ��������"They have a suit that would match the dress you 
 ordered for the portrait with your sisters *perfectly*." 
 ��������"Thanks.. I'll take a look over there when I come back 
 later." 
 ��������"And while you're at it, perhaps you should visit a 
 hair stylist too." 
 ��������Ray racked a hand through his mop of hair silently 
 agreeing with her, it had been well over a year since he'd 
 had a hair cut, he'd been intending to get one while he was 
 'on holiday' instead it just gotten longer. 
 ��������"That's not a bad idea. I don't suppose there's a good 
 his and hers salon around here?" 
 ��������The assistant pointed down the thoroughfare.���������������� 
 ��������"Down that way, take a left, then a right, it's half 
 way down the block."�������� 
 ��������"Ah, thank-you." 
 ��������"And a dress like that should have matching jewellery," 
 she went on moving back to the shop desk and rustling up a 
 card. 
 ��������When Ray joined her she handed it to him. 
 ��������"That's the card of the jeweller who supplied the 
 jewellery on the mannequins." 
 ��������"Thank-you." 
 ��������Frannie returned clearing her throat loudly and he 
 turned looking around and stared at her for a good ten 
 seconds. 
 ��������"Got any complaints now?" He asked. 
 ��������She shook her head, and looked at the price tag. 
 ��������"Just about the price.. It's almost $800." 
 ��������"No one's gonna call you cheap in that. Wrap it up, 
 we'll take it." 
 ��������Frannie bounded back to the change room with a smile. 
 ��������"Now, where can I get the shoes and accessories to 
 match those dresses?" he asked the assistant. 
 ��������She pulled out a pad and pen and began writing the 
 details down. 
 ��������"You seem to know where all the good places to shop 
 around here, you couldn't point me in the right direction to 
 find some nice maternity wear could you, my lady's *very* 
 pregnant, and the clothes she's wearing are strictly 
 blahsville. I want something that'll make her look drop dead 
 gorgeous." 
 ��������"We have a number of maternity dresses. That Red 
 Velveteen dress over there for example," she said pointing. 
 ��������Ray looked around and checked the dress out. 
 ��������"There are ties at the back which make it adjustable." 
 ��������"Hmmm.. I like it.. I'll take that too and ring you 
 back with the size later.. Does it come in any other 
 colours?" 
 ��������"Yes, Emerald Green, Sapphire Blue, Shimmering Gold, 
 Deep Purple and Midnight Black." 
 ��������"Great, I'll have one of each." 
 ��������Frannie popped up behind him. 
 ��������"One of each what?" 
 ��������Ray pointed. 
 ��������"That. For Meg, it's a maternity dress.. You wouldn't 
 have any idea what her size is would you?" 
 ��������"Gotta pen?" Frannie asked the assistant. 
 ��������The assistant ripped the page off the pad, handing it 
 to Ray, then gave Frannie the pad and pen. 
 ��������"What's that?" 
 ��������"A list of places to get the accessories for that 
 incredible dress," Ray said tucking it into his pocket. 
 ��������The assistant took the pad back and looked it over. 
 ��������"We can have these delivered, by Thursday." 
 ��������"No sooner?" 
 ��������"Well, the one on the mannequin is the right size, it 
 could be adjusted to a woman of this size." 
 ��������"Can we take that one today?" 
 ��������"Will that be credit card or cheque?" 
 ��������Ray pulled a huge wad of bills out of his pocket and 
 started peeling off hundred dollar bills, making the 
 assistants eyes light up. 
 ��������"Cash." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray left Frannie in the beauty salon, and carried the 
 myriad of boxes and bags to the Riv, which was being watched 
 by a security officer he'd slipped a c-note too to watch the 
 car. With the officer's help he got all the purchases packed 
 into the trunk. Then it was back to the dress shop to pay 
 the smiling assistant for the other dresses he'd ordered and 
 arrange for the ones he'd chosen for Maria to be delivered 
 to her current address. He got a real kick out of the 
 assistant dumping a society lady to rush to his side to deal 
 with him. Especially when he recognised the snooty woman. 
 He'd encountered her at some fund raiser he'd attended with 
 Louise, and snob was the only word for the woman. 
 ��������He headed for the menswear shop next and found out that 
 the assistant was right, there was a green suit that would 
 perfectly match the dresses he'd ordered for his sisters. He 
 snapped it, and the accessories up on the spot and then 
 picked out half a dozen more suits, while he was at it,�������� 
 necessitating another trip to the Riv before he wandered 
 through the mall, wandering in and out of shops. 
 ��������Three toy shops, six more clothing stores, shoe shops, 
 jewellers, a Lingerie store, three gift shops an a Infant's 
 and Toddlers store and numerous trips back and forth to the 
 Riv later, he met Frannie at the beautician's to present her 
 with a necklace and bracelet with matching drop earrings to 
 go with her dress. A rib threatening hug later, he escorted 
 her through to the hair salon where he was talked into 
 something much more daring than the short back and sides cut 
 he asked for by his sister and two stylists. The way he saw 
 it, he could always ask for a short back and sides cut if he 
 didn't like whatever style it was they decided was 
 absolutely perfect for him. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Welsh was returning from a trip to the men's room and 
 wondering why things were so quiet in the bull pen. The 
 answer came in the form of Huey approaching him with a thick 
 envelope in hand.�������� 
 ��������"Lieutenant, you have two visitors.. The Director of 
 the local branch of the FBI and the Police Commissioner.. 
 They're waiting for you in your office," Huey said. 
 ��������"Do you know what they want?" 
 ��������"No, but the Commissioner asked for some of my case 
 files." 
 ��������"Which ones?" 
 ��������"All the ones Ray did profiles for me on. The Director 
 wanted to have a look at them, the profiles that is." 
 ��������"Did you give them to him?" 
 ��������"I thought I'd check with you before I gave them to 
 him.." 
 ��������"Forget about it. The day I give that man any help 
 without a direct order will be a cold day in hell," Welsh 
 growled before he marched off for his office. 
 ��������Elaine moved in on Huey once he was out of earshot. 
 ��������"What's going on?" 
 ��������"Well any moment now.. I think he's going to throw the 
 Dictator out of his office." 
 ��������"Don't you mean Director?" 
 ��������"No," Huey said, turning to walk back to his desk. 
 ��������No sooner did Huey's tail hit his chair than Welsh's 
 door was thrown open and the Director stormed out. Welsh 
 followed him as far as the door way to watch him storm out 
 of the bull pen then Welsh spun slamming the door behind him 
 as he moved back into his office. 
 ��������Elaine joined Huey. 
 ��������"I don't suppose you know the winning numbers of 
 tonight's lottery draw too." 
 ��������Huey gave a weak chuckle at that. 
 ��������"It was a pretty easy prediction," Huey said reaching 
 for a pen and pad. 
 ��������"Oh, by the way, did I mention that Fraser's back in 
 town?" 
 ��������"He is? When did he get back?" 
 ��������"He arrived with the Dragon Lady, last week, they're 
 staying at Ray's place." 
 ��������"Not for long," Dewey said. 
 ��������Elaine and Huey jumped and looked around and Hewey 
 wiggled his fingers at them. 
 ��������"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be keeping 
 the house under surveillance." 
 ��������"Unless one of them left, in which case, I was supposed 
 to call it in and follow them around." 
 ��������"Who left?"�������� 
 ��������"Vecchio and his sister. She's driving him around." 
 ��������"So what are you doing here, why aren't you following 
 them?" 
 ��������"I am, in a manner of speaking. They're out front, He 
 wants her to stay in the car and wait there, she is sick to 
 death of him telling her to watch the car and they're having 
 an argument about it." 
 ��������"You said they won't be at Ray's place for long, what 
 did you do, creep up and eavesdrop?" 
 ��������"No. It was pretty easy to work it out after I followed 
 them.. First they went to a real estate agent, then they 
 visited an urban fortress near the hospital, then it was off 
 to the clinic. Where he spent over an hour in the car 
 waiting for her, reading a book so thick it'd choke an 
 elephant. After that, it was off to the bank, then back to 
 the agents. I pretended to be checking out the for sale 
 collection in the window and watched what was going on." 
 ��������"And.." 
 ��������"I could be wrong, but it looked like he brought the 
 place he was looking at, and paid *cash* for it too." 
 ��������"You're kidding." 
 ��������"Like I said, I could be wrong. But I doubt it. I saw 
 the agent make a call, then a guy in a cheap suit arrived, 
 and they spent the next fifteen minutes dickering and he put 
 his bag on the desk and pulled out bundles of cash and start 
 piling them on the desk, and the guys eyes almost bugged out 
 of his head, after that there was a lot of paper work being 
 done." 
 ��������"He paid *cash* for a house?!" 
 ��������"A big house at that. Mind you, I saw the card for that 
 house up on the display, it was going for $175,000." 
 ��������"He paid $175,000 *cash*." 
 ��������"From the way they were dickering, and the way he and 
 Frannie celebrated, I'd say he got it for less than that." 
 ��������"How did they celebrate?" 
 ��������"They hit the high end mall, and hit all the exclusive 
 designer clothing shops, shoe shops, jewellery stores.. And 
 he flashed a huge wad of cash in every place." 
 ��������"What?! I thought he was on the verge of bankruptcy." 
 ��������"Let's see.. If that wad was all c-notes, he spent 
 something close to $5000 at the dress shop alone. Then there 
 was the trip to that super book shop where he had half the 
 shop assistants following after him, fawning as he brought 
 up a copy of every motivational book they had along with 
 every recipe book, half a dozen books on interior 
 decorating, a huge stack of psychology text books, an even 
 bigger stack of books on crime. Then he told Frannie to pick 
 a few books and she went mad in the romance section. *And* 
 he made their day by ordering even more books. The back of 
 the car is just covered with books. He must have spent near 
 on three and a half thousand there." 
 ��������"Where the hell did he get the money??? It was only the 
 other day his sister said he was this close to going to 
 bankrupt, due to the medical bills," Huey said with a tiny 
 gesture. 
 ��������"I'd say he got it at the first and national." 
 ��������"What? Why?" 
 ��������"Well, he visited two banks before he hit the estate 
 agents. And he took the bag into the First and National, and 
 that's where he had the money he used to pay for the house. 
 And it's a sure bet he's going to be moving the beached 
 Whale and The Hen to that fortress before the weeks out." 
 ��������"Beached whale and Hen?" Elaine said. 
 ��������"Thatcher and Fraser." 
 ��������"Beached whale?" 
 ��������"She's pregnant." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"And she is H-UUU-GE. I'm betting she has triplets."�������� 
 ��������"Twins," Huey said. 
 ��������"Triplets, at the very least," Dewey said. 
 ��������"Twins." 
 ��������"Ray's going to be a daddy.." Elaine said, a smile 
 appearing. 
 ��������The two men looked at her. 
 ��������"Ray?" They both said. 
 ��������"Yes. Ray." 
 ��������"Funny, I thought it was the Hen," Dewey said. 
 ��������"Trust me, it's Ray," Elaine said. 
 ��������"Well, he's obviously in the dog house over something 
 then," Huey said. 
 ��������"What do you mean?" 
 ��������"Well, after he got home last night, he went up to his 
 room, and spent maybe an hour with her, then he spent a few 
 hours with Fraser, and after that, he spent the night on the 
 couch." 
 ��������"And you call me a peeping tom," Dewey said as he 
 reached out and plucked a pen from the desk and walked away 
 to find the form that had to be filled out, in triplicate, 
 to say that nothing happened. 
 ��������"I didn't have to peek," Huey informed Elaine. "The 
 curtains weren't drawn, I saw him moving around from room to 
 room." 
 ��������"Uh-hu." 
 ��������Huey went back to making his notes, hoping she'd 
 disappear when Ray walked into the bull pen carrying a bag 
 and looked around. A semi hush fell as people noticed him 
 and started doing double takes. Elaine looked around and 
 gaped, slapping Huey's arm. He looked around her and did a 
 little gapping of his own. Elaine slapped him again and 
 smiled, Huey sat up flipping his pad over so Ray wouldn't 
 see what he'd been writing. Rising, Huey smiled at Ray as he 
 approached. 
 ��������"Who's in the office?" 
 ��������"The Commissioner." 
 ��������"Really, what's going on?" 
 ��������Elaine and Huey both shrugged. 
 ��������"You look... Great," Elaine gushed. 
 ��������Ray grinned. 
 ��������"Thanks," he said giving his hair a nervous little tug. 
 "I wasn't sure about the hair style, I wanted to get it all 
 lopped off but Frannie convinced me to try something a 
 little different." 
 ��������"Don't even think of getting it cut off. It looks 
 great, it make's you look at least ten year's younger." 
 ��������He gave a weak smile at that, then Huey reached out to 
 tweak his hair. Ray kicked his skin. 
 ��������"It's real." 
 ��������"Did you have a nose job?" 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"It looks like you had one to me.. And Elaine's right, 
 you do look at least ten years younger, and it's more than 
 just that hair style. What did you do tell the doctor, while 
 you're at it, take a little off the nose, give me a little 
 more hair and take a fews years off." 
 ��������Ray reached into his pocket and pulled out a 
 photograph, the facial shot. He held it before Huey's face 
 and watched the man recoil shuddering. Elaine peeked, 
 shuddered and he put the photo away. 
 ��������"Laugh that off."�������� 
 ��������"Is that you looked like before he started?" 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"He did an incredible job." 
 ��������"Yeah. That's what you call Serendipity. Here I was 
 thinking that parcel going up in my face was the worst thing 
 that ever happened to me.. I can't believe how everything's 
 working out now.. One day, I'm staring bankruptcy and the 
 end to my career in the face and over night my life suddenly 
 taken a turn for the better." 
 ��������"So you found a solution to your money problems." 
 ��������Ray held up his arm, pulling his sleeve back to show 
 off his brace. 
 ��������"I got an infection in this arm, through no fault of my 
 doctor, or myself.. I almost lost my arm.. I only kept it 
 because I've got the best Doctor in town looking after me. 
 He went after the people who's fault it was that my grafts 
 were infected, and they agreed to pay compensation without a 
 big legal fight. They wanted to avoid a court case because 
 their reputation would be shredded if something like that 
 got made public. And they'd loose, because my Doctor can and 
 did prove I got it via something he used during my treatment 
 that he got from them which was contaminated on their end." 
 ��������"So how much did you get out of them?" 
 ��������"250." 
 ��������"Thousand?" 
 ��������"Uh-hu." 
 ��������"That's peanuts." 
 ��������"I'll get more later.. Once we know how serious the end 
 result of the infection is. That was just Hush Money," he 
 said. 
 ��������"That won't last long with all the bills you must have 
 racked up." 
 ��������"Well, actually, that's why I was staring bankruptcy in 
 the face.. I managed to cover all the bills for Frannie's 
 treatment and mine with my savings...and cashing in a few 
 policies.. But I was down to my last dollar and looking at 
 selling the house as an option to stay on top of the bills, 
 when Serendipity happened." 
 ��������"So you don't have any bills to cover now?" 
 ��������"Nope.. Thanks to Frannie some money came in last week 
 that will take care of the remainder and part of the 
 compensation deal is that they pay all my related medical 
 costs." 
 ��������"So you can do what ever you like with it." 
 ��������"Well I could.. But I won't." 
 ��������"Oh???" 
 ��������"I learned my lesson. I opened up two accounts at the 
 bank.. I put 50 thou in an emergency account.. And I put 30 
 aside to cover the usual expenses until the matter of how 
 big a lump sum I get is worked out." 
 ��������"That leaves around 170 to play with." 
 ��������"That was part of my budget too.. Frannie found this 
 big house that's more secure than my place. It was going for 
 175, but the owner agreed to drop it to 150 for Cash in 
 Hand. Which meant I had around $20 thou that wasn't included 
 in my budget to have fun with, and boy did I have fun. I 
 can't wait to get home and see everyone's faces when all the 
 things I brought today start arriving."�������� 
 ��������"What did you get?" 
 ��������"Way too much stuff..I think I dropped around 15 thou.. 
 The biggest expense was a whole new wardrobe for Frannie.. 
 But I owe her big time anyway.. And it'll pay for itself 
 soon enough," he said with a grin, "My sister's hooked her 
 self a rich doctor.. and all the stuff I brought today is to 
 help her reel him in and land him." 
 ��������"What do you think her chances are?" 
 ��������"Pretty damn good," he said opening his bag and pulling 
 out a gift wrapped package. 
 ��������He held it out to Elaine. 
 ��������"I also got you something. A little gift, to say thanks 
 for visiting while I was in the hospital." 
 ��������"You didn't have to do that," she said accepting the 
 gift anyway. 
 ��������"Don't open it here," he said as she prepared to do 
 just that. 
 ��������"Why not?" 
 ��������"You'll see, later," he said pulling another gift 
 wrapped parcel out of his bag and holding it out to Huey. 
 ��������"This ones for you." 
 ��������"What's this for?" 
 ��������"Well Frannie told me you told the Lieutenant about 
 those profiles I did as a favour for you." 
 ��������"That's right." 
 ��������"Well, if what Frannie told me is right, you might have 
 secured my future career doing that." 
 ��������Huey ripped the wrapping off to reveal a large box. He 
 opened that to reveal a desk set, and every piece had his 
 name embossed in gold lettering on it. In no time at all he 
 had it all set up on his desk and was reorganising it. 
 ��������"I knew you'd like it." 
 ��������"What else have you got in that bag?" Elaine asked 
 trying to peer in. 
 ��������Ray held it open so she could see there was one last 
 gift inside. 
 ��������"I got something for the lieutenant too. Oh.. And I 
 haven't forgotten that everyone chipped in to get my car 
 restored like new after the accident," He said with a grin. 
 ��������"What else did you do?" 
 ��������"I've got to consult my mother to find out just who 
 gets a big thank-you for that. And once I have all the 
 names, then you'll find out what I've got in mind to thank 
 all of you," Ray said before he wandered over toward Welsh's 
 office to peek in and see what was going on. 
 ��������Dewey returned to join Elaine and Huey and checked out 
 Huey's gift. 
 ��������"That's worth about 250... I saw him buy that at one of 
 those expensive gift shops," He said, then he looked at 
 Elaine's gift and grinned. 
 ��������"Do you know what this is?" 
 ��������"Well, let me put it this way. Don't open it here." 
 ��������"What is it?" 
 ��������"I could be wrong, but I could swear I saw him walk out 
 of a lingerie shop with a few parcels just like that one." 
 ��������"No wonder he told you not to open it here," Huey said 
 with a laugh. 
 ��������"Now that I've spared you some potential embarrassment, 
 maybe you'll tell me how you know it's him not Fraser who's 
 going to be a daddy." 
 ��������"Well, it's simple. Before he decided to disappear off 
 the face of the Earth Ray bounced in, grabbed me and asked 
 me to help him find out what paperwork he had to file to 
 make sure his Defacto relationship was officially 
 recognised." 
 ��������"Defacto.. The Dragon Lady is his Defacto Wife?!" 
 ��������"Yep." 
 ��������"I heard that," Ray's voice drifted over. 
 ��������"So when's the wedding Mr I heard that?" 
 ��������"What wedding?" 
 ��������"Oh come on, Ray, Don't tell me you're mother didn't 
 start planning it after Margaret started visiting you every 
 day in the hospital and gave you better bedside service than 
 the nurses," Elaine said. 
 ��������Ray wandered back with a faint smile. 
 ��������"You maybe right about that, but you know what they say 
 about the plans of mice and men, or in this case Mama." 
 ��������"It didn't work out.. You were so happy when you.." 
 ��������"I didn't say it didn't work out." 
 ��������"Then why are you dragging your feet?" 
 ��������"Well for one thing she hasn't asked me to marry her." 
 ��������They all stared at him. 
 ��������"What, you never heard of women's lib?" 
 ��������They all rolled their eyes. 
 ��������"I didn't call her the Dragon lady for nothing," Then 
 he gave a love sick little sigh, "God, she's ravishing when 
 she's breathing fire." 
 ��������Elaine snickered while the men rolled their eyes. The 
 sound of silence made them look around to see the 
 Commissioner walking out of Welsh's office. He stopped, 
 looking at them, then pointed at Ray and indicated he wanted 
 him to join him. Ray's hand to went to his chest and the 
 commissioner nodded. A little nervous and wondering why he 
 was being singled out Ray crossed the space separating them. 
 ��������"You are Detective Vecchio, aren't you?" 
 ��������Ray nodded.�������� 
 ��������The commissioner frowned a little. 
 ��������"Stay off TV. It makes you look considerably older than 
 you are." 
 ��������Ray gave a weak smile. 
 ��������"I have been discussing your situation with the 
 Lieutenant." 
 ��������"My situation, sir?" 
 ��������"Do you or don't you intend to return to duty?" 
 ��������"At this time, I don't even know if or when I will be 
 fit to return to duty." 
 ��������"Physically speaking." 
 ��������"Yes, sir." 
 ��������"There's nothing wrong with your faculties." 
 ��������"Oh no sir, they're working just fine." 
 ��������"I've been told you're studying psychology, S.A.C and 
 Criminology." 
 ��������"And you were the one who wrote those psychological 
 profiles that Detective Huey used." 
 ��������"Yes, sir.. But it would be dishonest to claim the sole 
 credit for them.. I did have a lot of help with the first 
 few." 
 ��������"From a highly experienced Profiler." 
 ��������"They don't come with any higher experience than my 
 coach does. He's the man who invented Profiling," Ray said 
 with a grin. 
 ��������The Commissioner waved at the office and after a 
 nervous moment Ray headed for the office with the 
 Commissioner on his heels. 
 ��������"I have a proposition for you, Detective." 
 ��������"A proposition.." 
 ��������"Yes, one that will kill two birds with one stone." 
 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Seventeen 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray handed Meg a cup of herbal tea, approved by the 
 Mother Hen and his mother, and gave a faint smile as she 
 reached out to touch his nose as she took the cup. 
 ��������"I wish people would stop doing that." 
 ��������"You'd prefer I do what Ben was doing earlier?" 
 ��������Ray gave a faint smile, remembering the way Fraser kept 
 staring at his face earlier. 
 ��������"You'll get used to it," he said as he sat beside her, 
 curling his legs up, draped an arm over the back of the 
 couch behind her and rested his other hand on her belly. She 
 started twinging a finger in his newly acquired curls. 
 ��������"So, how did the house hunting go today?" 
 ��������"Frannie said you saw the house I brought. It was the 
 one with all the bars on the window and the really gross 
 colour scheme inside." 
 ��������"Why do you want that dump? There was a much better 
 house." 
 ��������"Fraser hated it." 
 ��������"Well I hate the one you want to buy." 
 ��������"I can see it's potential. And you won't ask why I want 
 that place once the painters are finished." 
 ��������"Painters? 
 ��������"I agree with you, the colour scheme is disgusting. I'm 
 gonna have the painters in, to strip and repaint the place.. 
 You can pick the colour scheme.. We can do that tomorrow, 
 and when we've settled on a scheme we can visit a carpet 
 warehouse and pick out something nice for the floor." 
 ��������"So how much money do we have to play with to 
 redecorate?" 
 ��������"Well..I've got ten thousand left." 
 ��������"What?! I can't believe you paid almost a quarter of a 
 million for that dump.." 
 ��������"I paid 150 for it..and put everything I budgeted away 
 in the bank.. Which when I got the place for less than I 
 expected left me with some money to play with." 
 ��������"Ten thousand." 
 ��������"Well, actually it was more than that.. I decided to 
 have a little fun today.. I brought some gifts for my 
 friends and family.. And I didn't forget you either." 
 ��������"Ohhh.. What did you get me?" 
 ��������"Most of it is going to be delivered later...But I did 
 bring something back with me." 
 ��������He pulled a faceted jewellery case from his pocket and 
 held it out to her. With wide eyes she took it from him and 
 opened it to look at the eternity ring inside. 
 ��������"A ring." 
 ��������"I got one for Benni too," he said in a low voice. 
 "I'll give that to him later, when no one will ask questions 
 about it." 
 ��������He plucked the ring from the box. 
 ��������"I got it engraved, see," he said turning the ring so 
 she could see the message. 
 ��������-Eternally yours (love heart) R.V - 
 ��������She reached out to run a hand along his jaw, turning 
 his head and kissed him, thoroughly. He pulled back 
 reluctantly as her hand started wandering, and covered it, 
 stopping her. 
 ��������"Later." 
 ��������She gave a little sigh, then held up her hand so he 
 could slip the ring onto her finger. He smiled when he saw 
 that it was a perfect fit, and raised her hand kissing it. 
 ��������"I can't wait till we get settled down in the new 
 place, Frannie said it's sound proof, and the main bedroom 
 is down stairs. Ma and Frannie can stay up stairs." 
 ��������"What do you mean they can stay upstairs, they aren't 
 coming with us.. Are they?" 
 ��������"Just until the babies are born. I'm pathetically 
 useless around the house right now, you can't do any house 
 work, and I want to break Fraser of his obsession with 
 cleanliness and order.. That means I gotta rely on Ma and 
 Frannie to help out. After that debacle with the Carer I 
 hired I don't want to hire someone else. And Ma would be 
 offended if I didn't invite her to stay with us at least 
 until the babies are born." 
 ��������"Of course. We'll have to get to work on redecorating 
 that place straight away. With ten thousand to play with we 
 can get a professional interior decorator to.." 
 ��������"Forget it, Meg, I am not going to pay someone to foist 
 their idea of good taste on me.. I don't want a fashionably 
 decorated house, I want a comfortable home." 
 ��������"It was just a suggestion. Besides.. I have some money 
 of my own. I'll pay for the decorator." 
 ��������"It's my house."�������� 
 ��������"Are you saying I have bad taste?" 
 ��������"No, I think you have great taste.. What you did with 
 that house in Canada was great and I think it's a waste of 
 money to hire someone to do a job you can do yourself.. And 
 it's not like you've got anything else to do." 
 ��������"Hmmph." 
 ��������"I bet whoever decorated that place in the first place 
 all those years ago payed some fancy decorator to do the 
 work for them and look at the result.. I don't want to end 
 up looking around and saying ugh whatever possessed you to 
 chose that scheme a few years down the track." 
 ��������"But a decorator can find everything and arrange to 
 have all the work done...." 
 ��������"At inflated prices and rates higher than you could get 
 it done for if you arranged it yourself." 
 ��������"I'm not up to walking all around town." 
 ��������"I brought some books and every decorator's magazine I 
 could lay my hands on. We can spend the day going through 
 them *Together*, you, me and Benni.. And we'll decorate the 
 place *together*.. As for getting the work done.. Well.. I 
 can find painter's and carpet layers for myself. You want a 
 carpenter to do some work, I can find a carpenter.. You want 
 to play musical furniture, I'll find muscle men to move the 
 furniture till it's just right. I'd say me and Benni would 
 do it, but I'm not capable of it at the moment.. But I can 
 find plenty of people who are who won't charge us an arm and 
 a leg to do it either." 
 ��������He nuzzled at her ear. 
 ��������"It'll be *our* place, we should do it together." 
 ��������"Mhhmm..There's something else we should do together, 
 it involves a bed and my two favourite men.." 
 ��������He chuckled against her throat and she almost purred as 
 he did a little nuzzling, a kiss, and nibble his way back to 
 her ear. 
 ��������"What say, tomorrow we book a suite at some place like 
 the Drake, where you me and Benni can get reunited, 
 properly, hmmm?" He said in a low purr. 
 ��������"Why don't we do that now?" 
 ��������He sat right back and sighed. 
 ��������"Raymond?" 
 ��������"I can't, or get up to anything more .. involved than a 
 little necking right now." 
 ��������"Why not?" 
 ��������"I'm expecting someone to drop by." 
 ��������"Who?" 
 ��������"Well for starters, there's the courier who's gonna 
 collect half the staff I brought today and bring it round, 
 then there a few shop assistant's who agreed to deliver 
 things to close a sale with me.. And then there's Lieutenant 
 Welsh." 
 ��������"Why is he coming?" 
 ��������"Er.. Well I can't go back to my old duties at the 
 precinct... I know that.. The Commissioner made a 
 proposition but I had to say no." 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������"He wants to stick me behind a desk for the rest of my 
 working life, I almost resigned on the spot, I was actually 
 in the middle of doing it.. When The Lieutenant said shut 
 your mouth, go wait out there and let me sort this out.." 
 ��������"And did he?" 
 ��������"I don't know. He came out and said, he ran an idea 
 past the commissioner that'd be more up my alley, and that 
 they just had to agree on the terms of duty, wages, budget 
 that sort of thing.. They were still hashing out details 
 when I left. He said he'd drop in or ring me to let me know 
 how it went." 
 ��������"Do you know what he had in mind?" 
 ��������"He wants me to complete my studies and become an 
 accredited profiler..and come back and join the team again. 
 Where as the Commissioner basically wants me to teach cadets 
 how to do it at the academy, and go over unsolved murder 
 case files and create profiles. The Lieutenant said there 
 was a lot more to his idea of how I could serve on his team 
 than what the Commissioner has in mind." 
 ��������"Well, the Lieutenant has the right idea. You should 
 finish your studies and get accredited."�������� 
 ��������"Oh, even if I went back to work tomorrow it wouldn't 
 be a problem. I can earn extra credits through work 
 experience, and the Dean will be happy to hear I'm returning 
 to work. That was one of the reasons the scholarship 
 committee awarded the scholarship to me. They want to 
 attract more mature age students, and I'm gonna be an 
 example to other's that it's possible to mix work and 
 studies." 
 ��������"I see." 
 ��������"And I am not going to quit again.. I'm in for the long 
 haul now." 
 ��������"Really."�������� 
 ��������"Did I say something wrong??? I thought you would be 
 thrilled to hear that." 
 ��������"Would you mind telling me when you sorted out the 
 matter of your studies? I was under the impression that you 
 haven't been back to Canada, that you were undercover until 
 last week," she said coldly. 
 ��������"Er..I finished a few weeks ago..And wouldn't you know 
 it the day I get back Maria's kids started that fire, and it 
 was off to the hospital.." 
 ��������"I know you're lying to me." 
 ��������"Er..." 
 ��������"I'm still trying to work out why?" 
 ��������"Er..." 
 ��������"And how much of what I've been told is a lie." 
 ��������"Er.." 
 ��������The sound of Frannie clearing her throat loudly made 
 Ray look around. 
 ��������"You have a visitor," she announced. 
 ��������"Who is it?" Ray asked uncurling grateful for the 
 temporary reprieve. 
 ��������"Lieutenant Welsh." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Ray joined Welsh on the porch, noticing the envelopes 
 tucked under his arm. 
 ��������"So how did it go?" 
 ��������"He wants you to return to duty ASAP. Meaning 
 tomorrow." 
 ��������"But Sir, I only just got out of the hospital 
 yesterday, I still need extensive work on my arm, I'm not 
 fit to return to work yet." 
 ��������"You're as fit as you'll ever be.. In that regard." 
 ��������"Oh well I was going to resign any way." 
 ��������"You haven't heard what the deal is.. You don't have 
 the qualifications, a police psychologist needs, and you're 
 not an accredited profiler either.. Yet you're damned good 
 at profiling and have some form of psychology certification, 
 don't you?" 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"It would be a shame to waste it, and then there's the 
 fact that you are a detective, first and foremost, not a 
 psychologist or profiler .. So.. after much discussion, he 
 agreed to an official experiment, to be run through the 
 precinct, the post of Psych officer we hashed out what your 
 duties would be and there's far less emphasis on the 
 Psychology and more emphasis on real police work." 
 ��������"Oh.." 
 ��������"Now, I told the commissioner about your studies and 
 that we had to come to some arrangement that would allow you 
 to continue your studies and work. He's willing to give you 
 six months to prove you be an asset as a Psych officer on a 
 part time basis.. with one or two strings." 
 ��������"That's great news.. What are the strings?" 
 ��������"If you want to work from home, you have to have a 
 separate office."�������� 
 ��������"Can do.. We're moving to a new place as soon as the 
 paper work is settled and the painter's have been in to 
 change the god awful colour scheme there. It has the perfect 
 office, with a separate lockable File room." 
 ��������"It has to be secure." 
 ��������"It is." 
 ��������"I'll have to inspect it and make that judgement for 
 myself. "Now.. We've got the matter of the expenses of 
 setting things up," Welsh pulled out one of the envelopes 
 and held it out. 
 ��������"That's all the paper work you'll have to fill out. You 
 can requisition whatever you need to set up your office, but 
 you have to be able to justify every expense and you better 
 keep good records.." 
 ��������"As far as wage's go, for the trail period it will be 
 something between what you got before the accident, and what 
 an accredited Profiler earns. If after the trial period is 
 over he decides you were worth the expense, you're wage will 
 freeze until you get your diploma and accreditation. Think 
 of it as incentive to continue your studies and get 
 accreditation for your profiling studies.." 
 ��������Ray smiled faintly. 
 ��������"I've been doing the advanced course, which meant I had 
 to study harder to finish my studies in half the time. Right 
 now, I'm studying full time via correspondence but it was 
 really taking it's toll on me when I had to factor in my 
 duties as Fraser's primary carer when he needed a minder 
 around the clock. I was going to talk to the Dean about 
 switching to part time.." 
 ��������"You can continue to study full time for at least the 
 next six months.." 
 ��������"That will depend on my work load." 
 ��������"You have to put in at least four hours a day at the 
 station, and be on call after that," Welsh said holding out 
 an envelope, "This outlines the whole deal, there are also 
 forms that have to be lodged.. I know you can't do paperwork 
 right now so I filled it in for you, all you have to do is 
 sign it if you agree to the terms and duties and get it back 
 to me by Friday." 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������Welsh held out one of the thick file envelopes. 
 ��������"Now, this is a case the Commissioner would like you to 
 take. A double murder investigation that's going no where. 
 It's not in our district, all the leg works been done, he 
 just wants to see wether or not it's worth going to the 
 effort of creating a new position. Consider it your make or 
 break case.. He can still pull the rug out from under you at 
 any time.. But if you can get somewhere on that where 
 they've failed.. That Rug will be secure for the next 6 
 months." 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"I understand." 
 ��������"Good.. Now this is what you asked for," Welsh said 
 handing over the last envelope. 
 ��������"Everything I could get on Dante McIntire." 
 ��������"Great." 
 ��������"By the way, you're going to have to get new I.D 
 photo's." 
 ��������Ray nodded and held up his hands. 
 ��������"And get my prints done again." 
 ��������Welsh looked at his hands. 
 ��������"Half my prints are gone." 
 ��������Welsh carefully took hold of Ray's arm and made him 
 hold his hand up where he could see it in the light. 
 ��������"So they are." 
 ��������"And if you think that's bad, you should see my other 
 hand," Ray said with a little shudder. "I lost everything, 
 palm and finger prints.. Only one finger came out unscathed 
 and I'm going to be undergoing more grafts on that hand." 
 ��������"I thought the grafting was over." 
 ��������"So did I.. But, I got an infection in the grafts, they 
 were stripped back.. and I gotta wait for a new batch of 
 skin to be cloned before I get the new grafts." 
 ��������"Ah. That was what your sister was talking about." 
 ��������"Don't go anywhere I had something I wanted to give to 
 you but didn't get a chance to." 
 ��������He spun and dashed back into the house finding his 
 coat, fetching the cheque and then finding the fit he'd 
 brought. He returned to the porch to hand the cheque to 
 Welsh. 
 ��������"Thanks for the offer, but I don't need the loan now." 
 ��������"You don't? You're not going to sell the house to pay 
 your bills are you, your sister.." 
 ��������"Everything has been settled.. I got compensation for 
 what happened to my arm." 
 ��������"Ah." 
 ��������Ray held out the gift. 
 ��������"And I got you something to say thank you for 
 everything you did for me." 
 ��������"You didn't have to do that," Welsh said taking the 
 gift anyway. 
 ��������"You didn't have to offer me that loan either." 
 ��������"Did I mention that the arrest rate around the district 
 has dropped since we lost the team of the Vecchio and 
 Fraser." 
 ��������Ray smiled faintly. 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"Well it has. We don't want to loose the best team 
 we've had in a long time." 
 ��������Ray looked through the doorway, then back to Welsh. 
 ��������"Benni's still got a long way to go before he can take 
 up where he left off." 
 ��������"I gathered that when we talked last. But you've found 
 a new way to continue your work, a way that attracted the 
 attention of the Commissioner and the local branch Director 
 of the FBI." 
 ��������"Didn't you say something about them ignoring a warning 
 about Dante." 
 ��������"Yes. I did." 
 ��������"Well whatever it was that he wants he can.." 
 ��������"Go to hell?" 
 ��������"Exactly." 
 ��������"That's what I told him." 
 ��������Ray grinned. 
 ��������"I bet that went down like a lead balloon." 
 ��������"I also told him he could expect to face a lot of 
 resistance from my people towards assisting his people, 
 unless or until you receive a personal and public apology 
 for that piece of stupidity." 
 ��������"A public apology?" 
 ��������"Public as in front of everyone at the precinct." 
 ��������"Well, I hope that didn't get you in any trouble." 
 ��������"I did it in front of the Commissioner, and explained 
 my reasons afterwoulds. He said if I could prove they got 
 the warning *before* Dante's plane landed, or before that 
 parcel was mailed, he'd demand an investigation into the 
 whole mess." 
 ��������"Can you prove it?" 
 ��������Welsh gave a faint shrug. 
 ��������"All I've got at this stage is the word of one of the 
 Australian Fed's.. An Officer Mandaway." 
 ��������"He's the one who helped me out, in Australia, he's in 
 charge of the whole case..His word should be good enough. He 
 knows that Dante made threats against me, Benni told him 
 everything before.. he lost it completely. And I do mean 
 everything. I think.. He just wanted to curl up and die at 
 that stage, and held out long enough to make damn sure Dante 
 didn't get a chance to carry out his threats." 
 ��������"Do you know what Dante threatened to do, or was it 
 just a general threat?" 
 ��������"He knew I was there.. He must have seen me.. I didn't 
 understand how he knew.. It's not as if we ever met.. Now I 
 know he saw me with Benni in the Riv the day he carved up 
 the paintwork." 
 ��������"But what did he threaten to do." 
 ��������"For starters..." Ray glanced at the open door way, and 
 took a side step away. "Carrying out the threat he carved 
 into my car. If he ever saw me around Benni again." 
 ��������"Which he did. What else did he threaten to do?" 
 ��������"The usual.." 
 ��������"You remember how you told me all but one of his 
 victims died slow and terrible deaths.." 
 ��������Welsh nodded slowly. 
 ��������"And you remember how the exception died." 
 ��������Welsh nodded. 
 ��������"That's pretty much what he threatened to do to me." 
 ��������"I have the feeling there was more to it." 
 ��������Ray sighed. 
 ��������"There is." 
 ��������"Most of it could probably be taken for ranting in the 
 heat of the moment.." 
 ��������"What else.." 
 ��������"I would rather not.." 
 ��������"Did he threaten to hurt members of your family too." 
 ��������"My mother," Ray said in a low voice, "He knows what 
 she looks like.. He met her once.. When she was trying to be 
 helpful. I didn't think anything of it.. Not at the time.. I 
 thought they'd catch him.. That he wouldn't be able to carry 
 out any of his threats.." 
 ��������"Now you know better." 
 ��������"I'm doing what I can, I brought a new place, a real 
 urban fortress, near the hospital." 
 ��������"The old medical center." 
 ��������"You know the place." 
 ��������"That's the only "urban fortress" near the hospital I 
 can think of that would be up for sale. It's been up for 
 sale for years. No one seemed interested in buying it." 
 ��������"Yeah well.. There were things wrong with the place 
 that the owner spent years trying to rectify. I got lucky, I 
 got it after all the major problems had been rectified.. The 
 security on that place is great," Ray said, fishing the 
 key's from his pocket and holding them out. 
 ��������"You can check it out for yourself if you like. And 
 inspect the office there while your at it" 
 ��������After a moment Welsh took the keys, nodding, and tucked 
 them into his pocket and pointed across the way. 
 ��������"You may or not appreciate the fact that you're place 
 has been under around the clock surveillance ever since you 
 received that packet." 
 ��������Ray's eyes widened as he looked around and recognised 
 the car across the way. Welsh gave a signal and the door 
 opened, and Huey stepped out of the car and leaned on the 
 door. 
 ��������"Huey, Dewey, Rawlings and Davis have been taking it in 
 shifts." 
 ��������Ray made emphatic gestures to Huey and the dark 
 detective shut up the car and headed across the street. 
 ��������"Is that .. official or.. voluntary." 
 ��������"Both.. The moment he mailed that parcel to you he 
 earned our attention. We won't give him a chance to finish 
 what he started if he comes back for you." 
 ��������"That's nice to know sir." 
 ��������"In light of his activities in Canada, this has been 
 given the official green light. If we get official word that 
 he's crossed the border, our presence will be greater." 
 ��������"That's good to know sir. I take it they've been making 
 sure all the mail and parcels that arrive here is clean." 
 ��������Welsh smiled very faintly and nodded as Huey arrived 
 climbing up the stairs. 
 ��������"You fraud.. You coulda told me what was going on when 
 I was at the precinct this afternoon," Ray said poking him a 
 few times for good measure. 
 ��������"He was under orders, to be discrete." 
 ��������"Uh-hu.. Well, you can scuttle back to the car and try 
 to be a little more discrete in a minute. There is going to 
 be a large number of parcels arriving tonight. I know where 
 each and everyone is coming from and who every person 
 delivering them will be, so you don't need to pounce on 
 anyone. Unless you see a muscle bound Adonis walking up with 
 a parcel in brown paper. I asked for everything to be 
 delivered gift wrapped." 
 ��������"Got it." 
 ��������"Good, now scat before someone notices you hear and 
 starts asking awkward questions." 
 ��������"Too late," Meg said. 
 ��������The trio jumped and looked around to see the hugely 
 pregnant inspector leaning on the door frame, a frame to her 
 belly. 
 ��������"Oh dear," the trio chorused. 
 ��������"Please tell me the babies have decided it's time to 
 come into the world, Caro." 
 ��������She gave him a positively evil smile, then winced 
 rubbing at her stomach. 
 ��������"You wish." 
 ��������"I'm dead, aren't I?" 
 ��������"Well you've got three options." 
 ��������"Oh, what are they?" 
 ��������She started ticking off on her fingers. 
 ��������"Start talking, and make it good, studmuffin." 
 ��������Welsh and Huey snickered at that. 
 ��������"That does it, I'm getting the buzz cut back." 
 ��������"Don't even think of it." 
 ��������"What are the other options?" 
 ��������"Start running." 
 ��������"Uh-hu, and what's the last option." 
 ��������"Do you remember what we were discussing earlier." 
 ��������"Alright, you can hire an interior designer."�������� 
 ��������She rolled her eyes. 
 ��������"Not *that* discussion, the *other* discussion." 
 ��������He thought about it for a while. 
 ��������"Right *now*." 
 ��������"Uh-hu." 
 ��������"The car is still loaded with book's and things." 
 ��������She stuck two finger's in her mouth and let out an ear 
 piercing whistle that made the trio of men cover their ears. 
 In short order Fraser appeared at Meg's side. 
 ��������"You called." 
 ��������"Keys," Meg said holding out her hand. 
 ��������Ray passed the keys to the Riv over. She slapped them 
 into Fraser's hand. 
 ��������"Empty out the Riv and carry everything inside." 
 ��������"Where should I put it's contents?" 
 ��������"On Raymond's bed, he won't be using it tonight." 
 ��������Fraser bounded out to obey her biding. 
 ��������"Aaaalrighty..Let's just say I agree to do that. 
 Megatron, You gotta agree to let this whole thing drop and 
 trust me." 
 ��������"If you make it worth my while, *Caro*, she said, 
 before she waddled off. 
 ��������"Uh-hu.. Can I borrow a phone?" 
 ��������Welsh and Huey pulled out their Cel phones offering 
 them to Ray. Ray reached out and hit a button on Welsh's 
 then racked his memory and dialled the number of the Drake 
 and took the phone, waiting for confirmation he got it 
 right. 
 ��������"Oh, Hello, I was wondering if I can get a suite at 
 your hotel at short notice.. Right away if possible.. I can, 
 good, I'd like the honeymoon suite, if that's possible. It 
 is, wonderful. Excuse me, one moment." 
 ��������He covered the mouth piece looking around.�������� 
 ��������"Fraser, there's a Gold dress box in the trunk with a 
 red ribbon around it, with Frannie's name on it, and another 
 one with Meg's name on it, take them in first. Make sure 
 they get the right box too, hmm. Oh, there will be half a 
 dozen blue boxes, with Red and Blue ribbons around them. You 
 can take everything else out.. But leave those there." 
 ��������"Yes, Ray." 
 ��������Ray returned to his call. 
 ��������"Yes, I'm back, what was that.. Champagne, no.. Alcohol 
 is a no-no.. Chocolates.. Yes, Alcohol no... Oh, that 
 sounds fine.. Thank-you.. You have a complimentary pick up 
 don't you.. Oh, Good.." 
 ��������Ray made arrangements for a car to come around and pick 
 up a party of two within the hour." 
 ��������He signed off and handed the phone back to Welsh. 
 ��������"Which Hotel??" 
 ��������"The Drake." 
 ��������Welsh rang the station and called for another team to 
 take up watching the house. 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Eighteen 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������After Welsh departed to check out Ray's new place, Huey 
 helped Fraser empty out Ray's car. 
 ��������"Did you have to buy out the store," Huey grumbled as 
 he moved past Ray with a large stack of thick books. 
 ��������"I need every one of those books for my studies." 
 ��������"No student needs that many books." 
 ��������"Wrong, the rest of my class mates can just take a 
 short stroll to the library after class to pick up the books 
 on the recommended reading list. I'd probably have sent 
 Frannie out to do it for me, only my coach said never borrow 
 a reference book when you can buy it, you never know when 
 you might need to refer to it again." 
 ��������"I'm sure he didn't say buy out the shop." 
 ��������"You haven't see the list of books he recommended that 
 I buy.. There are over 500 titles on it. I'm still trying to 
 find half of them." 
 ��������The books were stacked beside the staircase and Huey 
 went back out to the car for more while Fraser carried 
 another stack into the car. 
 ��������"I see you are replacing your books," Fraser said, 
 while Meg came down the stairs, unnoticed. 
 ��������"*Replacing*.." 
 ��������"Yes..Isn't that why you brought all these books to 
 replace the ones that were burned.." 
 ��������"*Burned!* My reference collection was *burned!*" 
 ��������Fraser stacked the books beside the stack Huey had 
 brought in, then faced Ray. 
 ��������"Didn't Meg tell you? I thought that was why you 
 brought so many books." 
 ��������"My books were burned.." 
 ��������"Yes.. When Dante broke into the house and trashed it.. 
 He started a fire in the library.. Didn't Meg tell you?" 
 ��������Ray closed his eyes, deep breathing and counting to one 
 hundred.�������� 
 ��������"Fraser.. Get the rest of the books," Meg said from the 
 landing. 
 ��������Fraser looked around and did a double take then smiled. 
 ��������"You look ... stunning in that dress." 
 ��������"Thank-you, now go and get the books.. Before Raymond 
 explodes." 
 ��������Fraser nodded and hurried out. Ray turned and looked 
 around and lost count, Fraser was right, the Red Velveteen 
 dress with it's empire styling looked stunning on Meg. She 
 raised her hand, the hoop from it's trailing train around 
 her rest, showing a flash of leg and matching red slippers 
 as she descended the final flight of stairs with what 
 appeared to be more grace than she'd waddled up them with. 
 ��������Ray watched her descend then spun around and marched 
 out the door. 
 ��������"Fraser! Remember what I said about those blue parcels 
 in the trunk.. Forget what I said, bring them in." 
 ��������"Did you get me something else to wear." 
 ��������He turned to find her behind him and took her hand 
 making a little bow over it before he kissed it. 
 ��������"Fraser was wrong, stunning isn't the word for how 
 Ravishing you look in that dress." 
 ��������She smiled. 
 ��������"The parcels I'm talking about are some new suits for 
 Fraser and I that I brought after I got that dress, from a 
 shop that seems to work on the "dress to match your partner" 
 principle and stocks suits to match the dresses of the 
 designer ladies shop across the way." 
 ��������"So you brought a suit to match my dress." 
 ��������"Suits. One for me One for him. Well actually it was 
 more like half a dozen.. But the rest are being delivered 
 later tonight." 
 ��������Huey gave a little cough from behind and they moved out 
 of the door way. Huey gave Meg the once over, twice as he 
 passed through the door. 
 ��������"I don't suppose that dress comes in other colours." 
 ��������"Actually it comes in 6 different colours," Ray said 
 reeling off the list." 
 ��������"Great, I couldn't get you to pick up a shimmering gold 
 could I.. I think it would make a great gift for mother's 
 day. Just let me know what it costs and.." 
 ��������"Forget it.. I still owe you one.. I'll get the dress 
 and we'll consider it even." 
 ��������"Deal." 
 ��������Fraser came back, arms loaded with books, followed by 
 the Doctor, Paul, who was just as loaded down. 
 ��������"I see you didn't waste any time spending that money," 
 Paul commented. 
 ��������Ray gave him a smile. 
 ��������"I got lucky, the house I had my eye on cost me less 
 than I budgeted for." 
 ��������"And if what's in your car is anything to go by, you 
 celebrated by going on a spending spree." 
 ��������Ray grinned nodding. 
 ��������"Nice hair cut by the way, it suits you." 
 ��������Meg reached up to twine a finger in one of Ray's curls. 
 ��������"I thought so too." 
 ��������"I take it this stunning creature is your lady." 
 ��������Huey took the books from Paul and added them to the 
 pile, while Ray introduced them.�������� 
 ��������"You guess right. Meg I'd like you to meet Paul Conti, 
 My Cosmetic surgeon, and future Brother in Law." 
 ��������"A pleasure to met you," Paul said, taking her extended 
 hand to plant a kiss on it. 
 ��������Ray gave him a mock glare. 
 ��������"Is Francesca ready?" 
 ��������Ray looked at the stair case and smiled. 
 ��������"I don't know, you tell me," he said and pointed. 
 ��������Paul turned and his jaw hit the floor as Francesca 
 gracefully descended the stair case, her curls piled on top 
 of her hair in an artful array of ringlets, emerald drop 
 earings brushing her neck, the matching necklace around her 
 bare throat glimmering in the light, that also set her 
 matching bracelet a glimmer. The set not only highlighted 
 her flawlessly made up eyes, but the deep emerald colouring 
 of the shimmering medieval style velvet and silk dress with 
 a plunging neck line and long slashed sleeves that she wore. 
 Even her slippers matched. 
 ��������Paul moved to the foot of the stair case to take her 
 hand and place a lingering kiss on it. 
 ��������"I am going to be the envy of every man in the place 
 tonight." 
 ��������She gave him a radiant smile and looped her arm through 
 his. 
 ��������"And here I was thinking how I'd be the envy of every 
 woman." 
 ��������"Didn't I tell you he was smitten," Ray said in a 
 hushed aside to Meg. 
 ��������The lovebirds headed out the door billing and cooing at 
 each other while Huey gaped. Ray laughed at the look at his 
 face. 
 ��������"I hate to say it Ray, but I wouldn't start planning 
 your sister's wedding just yet." 
 ��������"And why not.. The man is positively smitten with 
 Frannie." 
 ��������"He is just the most eligible bachelor in town, 
 something you forget to mention, when you were telling us 
 about him." 
 ��������"Well, he may have been eligible, but he's not any 
 more. He's Frannie's man now. 
 ��������"Not for long, every socialite in the state is throwing 
 herself, or her daughter at him, he's neck deep in gorgeous 
 women." 
 ��������"Are you insinuating that my sister can't be included 
 in that category." 
 ��������"No, but she's way out of his class." 
 ��������"That's where you're wrong. He asked me, as the head of 
 the family, for permission to pay court to Frannie, he fully 
 intends to make her Mrs Conti in the near future. And I 
 don't care if it costs me the rest of the money I got to 
 turn our cygnet into a swan, nobody but nobody is going to 
 be asking *why* he picked Frannie." 
 ��������Meg kissed his cheek, wrapping her arm around his 
 waist. With a wince he raised his arm to wrap it around her. 
 ��������"Am I to take it, you don't object?" 
 ��������"If that's what you'd do for your sister, I can tell 
 that Francesca Jnr is going to be spoiled to death." 
 ��������Ray smiled laying his hand on her belly. 
 ��������"Along with her mother.." 
 ��������Huey decided it was a good time to get another load of 
 books from the car and Ray kicked the door closed behind 
 him, and stretched out a hand to Fraser who was watching 
 them. With a smile Fraser joined them and a group cuddle 
 ensued. 
 ��������"I bet you thought I forget about you." 
 ��������"I understand." 
 ��������"Good, then you won't be offended if I tell you that we 
 have to take separate cars to the hotel.. and arrive at 
 different times." 
 ��������"Are we going to a hotel?" 
 ��������"Mhmmm.. Do you remember what I planned to do before I 
 went away." 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"Well, I plan to go through with that plan, tonight, 
 where we don't have to worry about anyone finding out we're 
 a threesome." 
 ��������Fraser smiled. Ray nuzzled Meg's ear. 
 ��������"That ought to show Meg we still think she's beautiful 
 even if she does have a passing resemblance to a beached 
 whale." 
 ��������She swatted him and Fraser laughed. 
 ��������"Grab those parcels, the one with the Red ribbon is for 
 you." 
 ��������Fraser lit up. 
 ��������"You got me a present too." 
 ��������"Well of course I did, it's a new suit. The moment I 
 set eyes on it, I thought of you.. Now shoo.. Go and get it. 
 The taxi I booked to take you to the hotel will be arriving 
 soon and I want to see you in that suit before it gets 
 here." 
 ��������Fraser shooed, leaving Meg alone with Ray. 
 ��������"Now, let's talk about who's been keeping secrets from 
 whom. Shall we." 
 ��������She blushed faintly. 
 ��������"When did you intend to tell me what happened to my 
 book collection?" 
 ��������"I was hoping I'd get a chance to replace all the books 
 first." 
 ��������"It took me over a year, and at least two and a half 
 thousand dollars to amass that collection." 
 ��������"I had insurance, and don't worry, for lack of anything 
 better to do one day, I went through your collection with 
 Fraser's help and listed all your books plus their value on 
 your computer. That thief didn't touch any of the files.. 
 Your catalogue is still intact. We can replace everything." 
 ��������"Why do I have the feeling that *everything* mean's 
 almost literally that." 
 ��������She gave a little sigh. 
 ��������"It means everything he left behind." 
 ��������He stepped away growing agitated. 
 ��������"Why didn't you tell me?! I would have dropped 
 everything and flown out as soon as.." 
 ��������"I *know*," she said in a meaningful tone of voice 
 cutting in on his diatribe before he had a chance to really 
 get going. 
 ��������"Know *what*?" He asked hoping it wasn't what he 
 thought. 
 ��������"About the real reason you started consulting that 
 doctor. You were *undercover* in the sense that you were 
 covered in bandages, after he sent you an acid bomb through 
 the post." 
 ��������He drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes. 
 ��������"How did you find out." 
 ��������"I know about McIntire too.. I *am* a Mountie, 
 remember. Ever since your Lieutenant notified us that he 
 crossed the border using Fraser's I.D we've been tracking 
 his path of death and destruction across the country." 
 ��������"Does Fraser know?" 
 ��������She nodded with a sigh. 
 ��������"He doesn't know what happened to you.. But he does 
 know Dante got out of Australia and returned to Canada to 
 start his campaign of death and destruction. They came and 
 interrogated him, to try and work out who would be next when 
 they realised he was killing people who were connected to 
 him in some way. They came back three times before he told 
 them anything useful." 
 ��������"That's why he started backsliding. They wouldn't let 
 it drop till he gave them what they wanted." 
 ��������She nodded. 
 ��������"And what he gave them was the names of all the men Mc 
 Intire's killed so far.. He had the worst night terrors of 
 all during that period and started becoming obsessed with 
 cleanliness, personal cleanliness. We had to keep dragging 
 him out of the shower.. He was scrubbing himself raw.." 
 ��������"That's why she said he should be sent to a psychiatric 
 hospital.. he started losing it again." 
 ��������She nodded. 
 ��������"If you knew.. The story about me being undercover was 
 just a lie.. Why didn't you.." 
 ��������"You were still hospitalised when he was going through 
 the worst of it, what did you expect me to do, drag you out 
 of your hospital bed to tend to him?" 
 ��������"How did you cure him of his obsession with personal 
 cleanliness?" 
 ��������"I poured over your books and notes and tried 
 everything they suggested when a patient developed the 
 obsessions he was displaying.. I broke him of the worst of 
 his habits.. But nothing I've done stops him from obsessing 
 about the cleanliness of his surroundings.. it's as if he 
 transferred his.. obsession with personal cleanliness to an 
 obsession with his environment being as clean and orderly as 
 he can get it. He actually started improving when I gave up 
 trying to stop him.." 
 ��������Ray thought about that. 
 ��������"Being able to control the order of his environment 
 give's back something Dante took away from him.. Control of 
 his life.. He lost that and he's trying to get it back by 
 controlling his environment.. He's telling us he wants 
 control back.. That he still feels unclean, that's why he 
 goes on cleaning frenzies. Instead of scrubbing himself raw, 
 which doesn't work, he cleans his surroundings.. He can get 
 those clean.." 
 ��������"It's not going to be easy to break him of that habit 
 is it?" 
 ��������"It's going to take a while, but it won't be 
 impossible. Have you noticed any difference in his behaviour 
 today?" 
 ��������She raised a brow, a thoughtful look on her face and 
 nodded slowly. 
 ��������"Yes.." 
 ��������"Good.. I had a long talk with him last night. He isn't 
 going to give me a fight.. he's ready and willing to accept 
 my help.. It's almost frightening the amount of trust he has 
 in me." 
 ��������"You gave him good reason to place that trust in him."�������� 
 ��������"I'm amazed that he could extend it to me in the first 
 place.. He used to put his faith in Dante and look what it 
 got him." 
 ��������"You're not Dante.. You couldn't be more dissimilar if 
 you tried. He knows you know what it feels like to be 
 trapped in an abusive relationship, you told him all about 
 your father." 
 ��������"Eavesdropper." 
 ��������She smiled faintly and sadly. 
 ��������"I didn't have to eavesdrop on your conversations with 
 him to learn about your father.. You were quite vocal in 
 your sleep about it on more than one occasion." 
 ��������He blushed, deeply. 
 ��������"You proved all the statistic's about the children of 
 abusive parents wrong.. And proved your father wrong too.. 
 And he is putting the lessons you taught him, to rebuild his 
 shattered life to work." 
 ��������"He is?" 
 ��������She nodded. 
 ��������"I didn't pull him out of the despair when he slid 
 back.. He clawed his own way out of it. And I think you'd be 
 pleasantly surprised to find out just how much he's improved 
 in some area's." 
 ��������"Did you keep records for me?" 
 ��������"Of course, studmuffin," she said winding one of his 
 curls around her finger. 
 ��������"If you keep calling me that, I'm gonna get another 
 buzz cut." 
 ��������"It's a compliment," she said moving in for the kill. 
 ��������"You left, looking like a good stiff breeze would blow 
 you away, even before you left, I worried myself sick about 
 you.. Which is why I sent you away.. I couldn't send Fraser 
 away, and I knew that if I didn't act, soon.. I'd lose you 
 and the babies," she said reaching out to pop a button while 
 she started nuzzling at his neck. 
 ��������"I thought, the best place you could be at that time 
 was with your family, that they'd cluck over you and make 
 sure you got yourself back on track." 
 ��������Her hand slipped under his shirt and started wandering 
 and he arched his throat to her. 
 ��������"I was kept in the dark about what happened to you 
 until they knew for sure that you would pull through it.. I 
 know what happened. How serious it was, and I know why you 
 asked your superior to lie to me.. But there's no need for 
 the charade any more.. I let Fraser cluck to his hearts 
 content, and nag me into taking better care of myself, so 
 the reason you lied in the first place would become a moot 
 point." 
 ��������"I didn't want.. you to lose the babies.."�������� 
 ��������Her wandering hand passed over his chest and her 
 fingers began to toy with a nipple which sprang to attention 
 along with another part of his anatomy. 
 ��������"That is what made all the effort worth while. You care 
 what happens, to them, and me, even though you don't believe 
 they're yours." 
 ��������"They're not." 
 ��������"They are, but I'm not going to argue the point, we can 
 settle the issue after they're born with a paternity test. 
 Which will prove that rather than sterile you're a virile 
 studmuffin."�������� 
 ��������"If you keep calling me that.." 
 ��������"It's what you are.. The last thing I expected was the 
 scrumptious man who walked through that door last night," 
 she continued nuzzling at his ear. 
 ��������"I'm going to be beating the competition off with a 
 stick now." 
 ��������"Flattery will get you everywhere and if you don't stop 
 what you're doing right now..." 
 ��������"You'll do what? Ravish me right here. Go right ahead." 
 ��������The sound of Fraser clearing his throat broke in and 
 they both looked around. Ray smiled and Meg laughed. 
 ��������"Is this a company meeting or a party?" 
 ��������Ray chuckled at that. 
 ��������"There's nothing wrong with his memory." 
 ��������She swatted him. 
 ��������"You look good, Benni." 
 ��������Fraser tugged at the form fitting red coat he wore over 
 black pants with a yellow braid down the legs, and tweaked 
 at the collar of the black satin shirt he wore under the 
 coat. 
 ��������"It's a little tight." 
 ��������"Well, you won't be wearing it for long, so that 
 doesn't matter, does it," Ray said as he slipped out of 
 Meg's clutches and approached Fraser to reach up and open 
 the collar one handed and tweaked it up, so the stiff collar 
 stood up. 
 ��������"There, now it's not choking you." 
 ��������"One of us is under dressed." 
 ��������"You wish," Ray said looking at Meg over his shoulder 
 as he wrapped his hand around Fraser's arm. 
 ��������"But I can take a hint, come and help me get into my 
 suit." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Huey did a double take as he turned away from the car, 
 to see the trio on the porch. Ray's choice of personal 
 apparel was a pair of pants that matched Fraser's a black 
 satin shirt of the same cut, only a few size's bigger and 
 baggier. His red over coat was the epitomine of style, 
 though it too was at least two size's bigger than it should 
 have been, but the reason for that was obviously the brace 
 he wore. 
 ��������Huey kicked the car door shut behind him, juggling the 
 last stack of books as he approached the porch and ascended 
 the stairs. 
 ��������"They're going to see you coming from a mile away." 
 ��������"If you think these are bright, wait till you see the 
 other coat's I got." 
 ��������With a loud blare of the horn, the cab driver announced 
 his arrival, and Huey looked around. 
 ��������"This is the last load, I'll just put it away and.." 
 ��������"No hurry, Huey." 
 ��������Huey turned and hurried into the house, while Ray 
 descended from the porch with Fraser on his heels. He leaned 
 toward the driver pulling out a 50 and handed it to him. 
 ��������"Take him to the Drake," he instructed the cabbie, 
 before he moved to the back window which Fraser wound down. 
 ��������"We'll meet you in the lobby." 
 ��������Fraser nodded and the driver pulled out driving away as 
 Huey returned to the porch looking around. A van pulled up 
 in front of Ray and he stepped back as the door opened and 
 the driver climbed out clip board in hand and pulled a 
 parcel out from the front seat. Huey moved in as the driver 
 looked Ray over. 
 ��������"Let me guess, the bandages finally came off Mr 
 Vecchio." 
 ��������Ray grinned and nodded accepting the clip board as it 
 was offered to him. 
 ��������"You're looking good." 
 ��������"Thanks. You timed it just right, Sam, I was about to 
 leave for a night on the town," he said as he clumsily 
 signed for his parcel. 
 ��������Huey tried to intercept it, but Ray took the parcel 
 hugging it to his chest. 
 ��������"It's just my latest correspondence package, Jack," he 
 said, pointing to the address label in the corner as Sam the 
 delivery man climbed back into his truck. 
 ��������"See. The only way the contents of this would kill me 
 would be through sheer boredom as I wade through some of the 
 most boring texts you never read." 
 ��������Huey backed off, taking his word for it. 
 ��������"It never hurts to be cautious." 
 ��������Ray headed back to the house carrying his parcel, with 
 Huey on his heels. 
 ��������"There's cautious and there's paranoid Huey. Cautious 
 is treating any unexpected package with extreme care, 
 Paranoid is treating every parcel that arrives, even when 
 your expecting one, as if it could be another nasty surprise 
 package." 
 ��������Ray was at the door when the Drake's courtesy car 
 pulled up. 
 ��������"I think your car's here." 
 ��������Ray looked around, then tossed the parcel through the 
 door, pulling it closed as he turned. He stepped away 
 reaching for Meg. 
 ��������"Where's Fras.." 
 ��������Neither Ray's action, or Huey's question was completed 
 as an explosion shook the porch and the door was blasted 
 outward accompanied by a huge ball of flame. Huey flew 
 backwards, as Ray went flying, and Meg, the furthest from 
 the door, was almost thrown off her feet. As Ray went flying 
 past, her arms flew out to catch hold of the porch post and 
 clung to it for dear life to avoid being sent flying. 
 ��������As Ray and Huey hit the front lawn, the courtesy car 
 door flew open and the driver jumped out, to race across the 
 lawn. Meg looked back wide eyed to see the huge smoking hole 
 that was the door way, splintered, smouldering wood, Ray's 
 new collection of books scattered everywhere in flames and 
 the ceiling caving in over the entry way. 
 �������� 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Ninteen 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������The last thing Welsh expected when he returned to Ray's 
 place was to find the fire department putting out a fire, 
 along with the paramedics and ambulences. Pushing his way 
 through the crowd of gawpers Welsh found Huey sitting on a 
 trolley, his torso wrapped in bandages, watching the firemen 
 work to put the fire out. 
 ��������"What happened?" 
 ��������"Another parcel bomb, the explosive kind this time." 
 ��������"You were suppoused to intercept any parcels." 
 ��������"He got to it first." 
 ��������Welsh looked around at the house. 
 ��������"He's fine.. He didn't open it, he tossed it inside. It 
 must have gone off when it landed."�������� 
 ��������"Where is he?" 
 ��������"He and Thatcher are on their way to the hospital." 
 ��������"Is she.." 
 ��������"She's fine, but the shock sent her into premature 
 labour." 
 ��������"What's his condition?" 
 ��������"He's a little dazed, singed, bruised and in full panic 
 mode about the babies. Beyond that, he's fine." 
 ��������"Fraser?" 
 ��������"I lost him.. They sent him somewhere in a taxi while I 
 was distracted.." 
 ��������"What about Mrs Vecchio and Francesca?" 
 ��������"Frannie's going to be in for one hell of a shock when 
 her date brings her home. And you'd have to ask Dewey where 
 Mrs Vecchio is, she left the house before I took over." 
 ��������A paramedic approached. 
 ��������"What's his condition?" Welsh demanded. 
 ��������"Mainly bruises, though he may have cracked a rib, we 
 want to take him to the hospital for X-Rays." 
 ��������"Do that," Welsh said. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������A phone call to the Drake resulted in Fraser arriving 
 at the hospital. Welsh escorted Mrs Vecchio to the hospital 
 after he finally tracked her down. While Welsh was checking 
 up on Huey's condition, Mrs Vecchio caught sight of Fraser 
 trying to find out where Ray and Meg were and lead him 
 through the corridors to the natal ward. 
 ��������Fraser went into mother hen mode, rushing to Ray's side 
 to cluck when he saw Ray standing before the huge 
 observation window in his singed and filthy coat. 
 ��������"Stop clucking, I'm fine.. Look.. Meg had the babies." 
 ��������Fraser looked around. 
 ��������"Which ones?" 
 ��������"Over there.. In the incubators the nurse is checking 
 out." 
 ��������"Are they alright? They weren't due for another.." 
 ��������"They're fine.. They're perfect.. They're an instant 
 family, she had triplets." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"That's what we said, after the Doctor delivered the 
 first two and said, there's another one here.. The doctor 
 said the third one must have been masked. That's why it 
 didn't show up in the ultrasounds." 
 ��������"So what are they?" 
 ��������"We have a Francesca, a Gregory and an I don't know 
 yet." 
 ��������"What do you mean an.." 
 ��������"It's another boy," Mrs Vecchio said. 
 ��������"Ah.." 
 ��������"We weren't expecting another baby, we don't have a 
 name for him yet." 
 ��������Huey wandered into the corridor, with Welsh. 
 ��������"How are they?" Huey asked as he approached. 
 ��������Ray looked around, smiling. 
 ��������"They're fine, she had triplets, can you beleive that?" 
 ��������"Damn.." 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"Never mind.. Congratulations." 
 ��������"I thought you were expecting twins," Welsh said. 
 ��������"We were.. The third one gave everyone a surprise. He 
 was hiding behind the other two, Ray said and pointed out 
 the triplets incubators. 
 ��������"So what did she have??" 
 ��������"Two boys and a girl. By the way.. If you're going to 
 tear strips of Jack about that bomb, don't.. 
 ��������"You're too late.. He already reamed me out for it." 
 ��������"It wasn't his fault, sir. I stopped him from 
 intercepting it. I thought it was my latest correspondence 
 package, it was delivered by the same guy who delivered all 
 the rest.. It had all the right stamps and labels.. I don't 
 understand how he got to it." 
 ��������"I told you, Dante broke into the house," Fraser said. 
 ��������Ray looked at him. 
 ��������"It would have been simplicity itself for him to work 
 out how to reach you.. You left all your study materials 
 behind." 
 ��������Ray was amazed. This was not the sort of thing Fraser 
 did any more. His amazement became delight as Fraser 
 continued. 
 ��������"It would have been a simple task to discover you were 
 doing most of your studies by corresspondence. There were 
 envelopes and forms that carried all the details. If he 
 watched the house before he broke in, he would have known 
 that you were no longer in residence, and worked out that 
 your most likely place of residence was your home here. He 
 may have gone on to the college and learned for a fact you 
 were still studying via correspondence." 
 ��������"That's assuming Dante was the one who was behind the 
 fire there." 
 ��������"Of course he was, they told me he was torching houses. 
 I'm sure if you examine the data gathered on the other 
 places he burned down the evidence will prove that he was 
 behind the fire at our place. Though I am not sure it will 
 prove he sent that bomb. Though he had the motive and 
 oppourtunity I don't beleive he sent it." 
 ��������"Why? Because bombs aren't up his alley. I hate to 
 break it to you like this, Benni, but it's not the first 
 parcel bomb Dante's sent."�������� 
 ��������"It's not???" 
 ��������"No. We didn't want you to get upset so we didn't let 
 you know.. I got the new face because he sent me a nasty 
 surprise package shortly after he got out of Australia.. I 
 didn't receive it till I got back home and it went up in my 
 face. And they found his prints on the packaging.." 
 ��������"It wasn't explosive?" 
 ��������"No.. It was an acid bomb.. among other things. But it 
 wasn't explosive." 
 ��������"That I can beleive was his work.. But not the 
 explosives. It isn't right." 
 ��������"In what sense, Benni?" 
 ��������"To send explosives. Something that would maim you, 
 yes.. But explosives..No.. Explosives could hurt someone 
 other than their intended victim.. And he wouldn't hurt an 
 innocent.." 
 ��������"Benni, the man is psycotic.. Psycho's don't care who 
 they hurt." 
 ��������"He is not phsycotic, there is a definate pattern to 
 his attacks.. He is *punishing* people.. Everything he's 
 done, every person he's killed, every building he's burn, 
 every act he's taken has been to punish people who hurt me." 
 ��������"Hey, Benni, I didn't hurt you." 
 ��������"You and Meg are exceptions to the rule, you are being 
 punished for coming between us.. And he did nothing to Meg, 
 he torched the house, instead of attacking her, because she 
 was pregnant, and if he went after her personally an 
 innocent, in that case, the baby, would be hurt."�������� 
 ��������"Benni, Dante wasn't the one who torched the house, it 
 was the Dope smoking wacko you got expelled from the 
 college." 
 ��������"No. He admitted that he broke into the house, trashed 
 it and stole Meg's Jewelry and your laptop and that is all 
 he admited too. He only admited to that after they charged 
 him with arson.. In his confession, he said that if there 
 was a fire it was an accident. He did not deliberatly light 
 a fire and the fire was *deliberately* lit. Dante was 
 responisble for the fire." 
 ��������"And you're dead certain he wouldn't have sent that 
 bomb." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"But no one else had a reason to send me a bomb, 
 Benni.. I haven't been an active cop since the accident. You 
 pointed out he could have found everything he needed to send 
 the bomb and make it look like the parcel came from the 
 college." 
 ��������"I don't think it was Dante.. I don't know who else 
 would be motivated or know enough to do that.. And it makes 
 no sense to me, if they were concerned that he would send 
 another parcel bomb why wasn't the postal service warned to 
 hand any parcels addressed to you to a explosives expert to 
 be examined.." 
 ��������"They were," Walsh interjected. "The Feds were 
 suppoused to be han..dle..ling.." 
 ��������He trailed off and he and Huey shared looks. 
 ��������"They did it *again*," They both growled at the same 
 time. 
 ��������"Did what?" Ray and Fraser both said. 
 ��������"The Feds were warned about Dante, before he sent the 
 first bomb. They had a chance to catch him before he got off 
 the plane at O'Hare. The Australian Fed's warned them he'd 
 gotten past them, and boarded a plane for the US and would 
 probably be using a stolen passport. They ignored the 
 warning." 
 ��������"That's why that damned bomb got through.. They ignored 
 the request to assist us by making sure your mail was 
 intercepted and inspected before it was forwarded onto you. 
 I didn't really trust them to do it after what happened.." 
 ��������"That's why he told us to intercept any parcels that 
 arrived," Huey added. 
 ��������Welsh nodded. 
 ��������"Now, I've got the proof I need to nail that bastard's 
 hide to the wall." 
 ��������"Why would they ignore warning's of such a nature I 
 don't understand." 
 ��������"It's because we pissed them off, Benni. We made them 
 look like idiots. And when we caught the Bolt brothers after 
 they turned us into a walking bomb, and made everyone look 
 like fools, we came out of that debacle as the hero's of the 
 hour while they looked just plain imcompentant on *national* 
 T.V at that. Even Meg made them look stupid. She worked out 
 what they were really after." 
 ��������"You worked that out for yourself, all she did was give 
 you the clue you needed to do it." 
 ��������"Yeah, but she worked out there was something fishy 
 going on first. And did it without all the clues we had that 
 something else was going down there." 
 ��������"True." 
 ��������Ray looked at Welsh. 
 ��������"And you better make damn sure he gets nailed for this, 
 or I'm gonna send him something nasty in the mail myself," 
 Ray said, looking away at the instant family in the ward. 
 ��������"And I've got five good reasons to go after that son of 
 a bitch for it." 
 ��������"Five.. There are three babies," Fraser said confused. 
 ��������Ray gave a very faint smile at that. 
 ��������"Meg and Huey are the other too," Ray said, then looked 
 Huey over. 
 ��������"You O.K?" 
 ��������"Just some bad bruises. I'm gonna be as stiff as a 
 board come morning." 
 ��������"You and me both." 
 ��������"I've got your place under gaurd, for the moment, I can 
 have a team move in in the morning to start packing up 
 whatever the fire didn't get after forensic's and the 
 insurence company are through .." 
 ��������"The insurence company won't be sending anyone out. 
 There is no insurence on the place right now." 
 ��������"What?" His mother almost shrieked. 
 ��������Ray winced. 
 ��������"I didn't have the money to renew it Ma.. I was gonna 
 take care of that and the rest tommorrow. But don't worry 
 about it.. I'll get someone in to take care of the damage.." 
 ��������"With what?!" 
 ��������"Don't worry about it, I got some money.. If it doesn't 
 cost to much I should be able to cover all the repairs.. 
 Course it's gonna mean I can't spruce up the new place the 
 way I planned.. Meg'll loove that.." 
 ��������"New place? What new place." 
 ��������"I brought the place we were talking about last night." 
 ��������"The house we rented while you were in the hospital." 
 ��������"That's the one." 
 ��������"You're cusion Mario is a painter. And his sister is an 
 interior designer.. I'll call their mother in the morning 
 and get them on the job... If we get them to do the work on 
 both places we can get a big discount on them and you'll be 
 able to afford to do both at the same time.. Of course we'll 
 have to get them to do the other place first, there is no 
 way we're moving back into that house until they've finished 
 the work... If I make a few calls I'm sure we can rustle up 
 enough helpers to get the work done as fast as possible." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Ray discovered just how much fun it was to be the one 
 Fraser clucked over after over the next few days. He spent 
 the first day following the explosion in bed, every bruise 
 on his body making itself felt. Fraser clucked and molly 
 coddled him and he was in enough pain to take it without 
 complaint. The closest he got to visiting Meg at the 
 hospital was to make a phone call, making her laugh when he 
 told her that the way Fraser was clucking that it wouldn't 
 surprise him if he sprouted feathers and a beak. 
 ��������He got a break from Fraser's clucking for an hour when 
 Fraser, accompanied by a police escort, went to the hospital 
 to visit Meg and the Babies. He returned with a huge smile 
 and asked if he minded if Meg named the second boy." 
 ��������"I don't mind, why should I mind." 
 ��������"Well it is a boy, she thinks that since she chose to 
 name the other one after her father that you should at least 
 have a chance to think of a name for the other boy.. Since 
 he is your son." 
 ��������Ray rolled his eyes thinking here we go again. 
 ��������"The last thing on my mind right now is going through a 
 baby book to pick a name." 
 ��������"If you have no objections, she would like to call him 
 Robert." 
 ��������"Robert??? Why does she want to call him Robert?"�������� 
 ��������"Well, she can't call him Benton, that would cause too 
 much confusion, and while Fraser is a perfectly acceptable 
 christian name, that would still cause confusion, so she 
 chose Robert instead, after my father." 
 ��������"Oh, well in that case, Robert is fine by me." 
 ��������Fraser smiled. 
 ��������"It's not as if I had my heart set on any other name. 
 And Robert Thatcher sounds fine." 
 ��������"It's not Robert Thatcher." 
 ��������"It's not?" 
 ��������"It's Robert Benton Thatcher-Vecchio." 
 ��������Ray laughed. 
 ��������"And the other boys name is Gregory Raymond Thatcher- 
 Vecchio." 
 ��������"And the girl?" 
 ��������"Francesca Pauline Thatcher-Vecchio." 
 ��������"Pauline???" 
 ��������"I thought you chose her name." 
 ��������"Francesca, yes, but Pauline, no." 
 ��������"Oh, she said that it was after the man who turned you 
 into studmuffin." 
 ��������Ray laughed at that. 
 ��������"And if you get a buzz cut, she's going to give you a 
 full body buzz cut and the itch as your hair grows back will 
 drive you insane. She likes your new hair style." 
 ��������"I have no intentions of getting it cut.. I just like 
 teasing her.. She can't keep her hands off it." 
 �������� 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������When Fraser finally let Ray out of his clutches, he was 
 joined by Welsh and driven to his new home to inspect the 
 work in process. As they walked through the urban fortress 
 dodging painters and workers as they went, Ray stopped in 
 his tracks and Welsh had to side step fast to avoid running 
 into him. 
 ��������"Elaine???" 
 ��������The coverall and scarf covered woman up a ladder hard 
 at work ragging the paint looked down, proving that it was 
 indeed Elaine. 
 ��������"I don't beleive it, what are you doing up there?" 
 ��������"She's not the only one here." 
 ��������Ray looked at Welsh. 
 ��������"What do you mean? Don't tell me..." 
 ��������Huey walked in, with a bottle in hand and Elaine 
 scrambled down the lader tossing the rag onto the drop cloth 
 wiping her hands on her cover alls. 
 ��������"You're going to owe us big time for this," Elaine said 
 as she accepted the drink Huey presented her with. 
 ��������"So you finally dragged yourself out of bed." 
 ��������"Fraser wouldn't let me out till I stopped wincing 
 every time I moved. Now I know how Meg felt when he was 
 clucking over her." 
 ��������"With any luck we'll have this place livable by the 
 time she and the babies are ready to leave the hospital." 
 ��������"Oh, she's out.. Not that you could tell, she's taken 
 root there.. Watching the babies. The only time she leaves 
 their side is when Fraser arrives to take over so she can 
 get some sleep." 
 ��������Dewey, paint can in hand, wandered past, his coveralls 
 and cap splattered in paint. 
 ��������"What's he doing here?" 
 ��������"I twisted his arm, I told him if he wanted his fifty 
 he had to put in a little work." 
 ��������"Hmm.. I have a supicion I know why you said Damn when 
 I said Meg had triplets." 
 ��������Huey laughed. 
 ��������"After the new's that you were A. Returning to duty 
 soon, and B. Are now the proud father of an instant family, 
 we had a vote." 
 ��������"Oh, what sort of vote?" 
 ��������"Wether to give you a baby shower, a welcome back party 
 or help prepare your new house so the work would be done 
 before the babies were ready to leave the hospital. The 
 majority elected to lend a hand." 
 ��������"If I have any money after I pay for all this work I'll 
 be throwing a big party to thank you all for the work." 
 ��������"Well, you should have enough, this place is crawling 
 with your relatives. I think the only person who isn't 
 related to you, or one of your work mates is the blond 
 beamouth who is doing the carpet laying. Which means all you 
 have to pay for is the materials." 
 ��������"There you are." 
 ��������Ray looked around as his cusion walked in a clip board 
 in hand and homed in on him to draw him away asking to 
 bombard him with questions about colour schemes and the 
 like. 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������3 day's later, Fraser was jugling a pair of baby boys, 
 and Ray took his little Francesca out of Meg's arms and 
 handed them to his ever present police escort, before he 
 took the boys from Fraser. 
 ��������"Pick her up." 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������Fraser picked her up, and Ray kicked the front door 
 open, so Fraser could carry her over the threshold. 
 ��������"Voila," Ray said as he followed them through. 
 ��������Meg looked around as Fraser set her down. Not that 
 there was that much to see, since the door opened onto a 
 corridor, but there was a lot to see in the way of 
 improvements to the decor, among other things a sky tube 
 brought more light into the hall than there used to be, 
 which showed off the profressional paint job, of egg shell 
 blue walls, with picture rails, from which numerous pictures 
 from the family home had been hung. 
 ��������"You like?" 
 ��������"This..is the last thing I expected." 
 ��������"Well.. You did say you wanted to let an interior 
 designer loose here." 
 ��������"I thought we were going to redecorate the place 
 together." 
 ��������"You were so wrapped up in the babies, I wasn't up to 
 it, and Fraser was busy clucking over all five of us, you, 
 me and the babies included. Someone had to do the work so 
 we'd have somewhere to live once the babies were ready to 
 leave the hospital. Wait till you see the rest of the house, 
 my cusion, Maria, really did a great job, I arrived to take 
 a look around at just the right time to stop her from going 
 over the top in some of the rooms." 
 ��������She collected her daughter, and stuck a finger in the 
 babies mouth as she make a feed me face. 
 ��������"Perhaps you should show me the nursery first." 
 ��������Ray handed one of the boys to Fraser, and then headed 
 down the hall with the trio following. 
 ��������"Oh mi," Fraser said when he saw the nursery." 
 ��������"This is.." 
 ��������"Incredible," Ray finished for Meg. 
 ��������"Yes," She said as she looked around at the partioned 
 off room. 
 ��������Each partion was composed of thick glass, that ran from 
 the floor to the ceiling, the walls were a creamy pearl 
 white with a rag wash molting of a rainbows worth of 
 pearlescent colour giving it the appearence of mother of 
 pearl. The floor was covered with a thick soft pile carpet 
 with a rainbow's worth of colour and each partioned section 
 held a swinging cot, and shelves that were painted to match 
 the roof. Soft fluffy toys hung suspended from hooks in the 
 roof with invisible nylon threadsm or attached to the wall 
 with the aid of Velcro tabs and there was a rocking chair 
 set in the center of the room with a table painted to match 
 the walls. 
 ��������"Ma had the rocker and the first cot up in the attic, I 
 brought one to match it when I was on my shopping spree, 
 then Ma, Frannie and Maria got together and brought the 
 third. I got all the fluffy toys when I was on my shopping 
 spree. Lucky I went over board in the toy department, there 
 were plenty to go around." 
 ��������"Why Glass?" 
 ��������Ray placed his little bundle of joy in one of the cots 
 and then crossed the room to pull back the mother of pearl 
 curtains to show off the office behind the thick glass 
 sliding doors. Meg placed Francesca Jnr in her cot and then 
 joined Ray as he slid a door open and walked into the office 
 and spun slowly waving at his pride and joy, which the 
 colour scheme of the adjoining nursery had been extended 
 into. 
 ��������After he deposited the last little bundle of joy in a 
 cot, Fraser joined them. 
 ��������"I know who came up with the design for this office, 
 Benton." 
 ��������"How did you guess." 
 ��������"It was in a magazine he showed me..Those wall units 
 are the only thing it didn't include, but I know they were 
 already here." 
 ��������"I think it looks great. He snuck in and pounced on 
 Maria and convinced her to have the office done to his 
 specifications." 
 ��������"The doors were my idea. I was thinking French doors, 
 so I could see into the nursery when I was working here and 
 I had a fight with Luitenant Welsh about them, because 
 French doors are secure enough. Maria came to the rescue by 
 suggesting the sliding doors. There are bolts that can lock 
 them into place, and it's bullet proof no one can smash 
 their way through it. That was paid for by the CPD, they 
 also replaced the window in here and the nursery with the 
 same glass." 
 ��������"The partitions?" 
 ��������"Are the same stuff. There won't be any glass breakages 
 in that room. They also ripped out the doors and frames into 
 both rooms, and the file room and took down the walls around 
 them, the walls were rebuilt, with cement, the frames are 
 security grade steel, and so are the doors, Maria did a 
 great job having them fitted out and painted to look like 
 the rest of the doors in the place. And the finishing touch 
 was an alarm system that'd wake the dead. Once I bolt the 
 doors for the night, it will automatically kick in, and if 
 anyone manages to get in that alarm will kick in." 
 ��������"They paid for all that?" 
 ��������"Uh-hu.. And the other door way too." 
 ��������"What other door way?" 
 ��������"The room adjoining the nursery is the main bedroom, 
 they knocked half the wall down and put in a door there, a 
 sliding door like that one. You can't even tell that it's 
 there." 
 ��������"They paid for the office fittings too," Fraser added. 
 ��������"They did?" 
 ��������"Well, they paid for the materials. Apparently I have a 
 cusion or three who are handy with the carpentry tools. They 
 went over the pictures Fraser showed Maria and reproduced 
 the look, and took the doors of those units and replaced 
 them so everything matched." 
 ��������"And the locksmith.." 
 ��������"Ah, yes.. And they paid for a locksmith to come in and 
 change all the locks and put them in on every window, and he 
 installed that computer lock on the file room. The only way 
 into it now is with a key card and the code." 
 ��������"What computer lock?" 
 ��������Ray crossed the room to show her the lock which was 
 cleverly concealed behind a fake light switch on the wall. 
 ��������"The lock on the door's for real, but this disengages 
 the lock - and the file rooms alarm. Unless you use this 
 first, the door lock won't disengage, and the alarm will go 
 off. And both alarms are back to base, in this case the 
 precinct." 
 ��������"Why did they go to all that trouble and expense?" 
 ��������"Because this is where I'm going to work. Just as soon 
 as the new computer is delivered and the phone line is set 
 up I'm back on duty, as the New Psych Officer." 
 ��������"But you haven't finished your studies, you need better 
 qualifications than you have to become a police 
 phsycologist." 
 ��������"I'm not a police phsycologist.. I'm something that's a 
 cross between a profiler, a police phsycologist and a 
 detective. It was the Luitenant's idea..It's an experimental 
 post.. I've got 6 months to prove I can handle it and do a 
 good job, if I can, it'll become a permenant position, and 
 I've got you to thank for it. Making me keep studying to 
 qualify for the profiler's acreditation course. Once I get 
 accredited, It'll become a full time position, and I'll be 
 expected to start training others. But, I'll get a big pay 
 raise and a promotion, and a fancy title to go with it." 
 ��������"What sort of title." 
 ��������"Cheif of the CPD Psych department. You should hear the 
 Commissioner, now he's had time to think about the whole 
 idea, he's getting really excited about it. And I've already 
 got three cases on the slate." 
 �������� 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������The "housewarming/Thank-you" Party was thrown the next 
 day, and the busiest room in the house wasn't the 
 lounge/dinning room, it was the nursery as Ray's relative's 
 and work mates all trooped through to coo at the triplets 
 and gush over the babies. During a lull in the visitations 
 Ray slipped through nursery into his office, dragging Elaine 
 in after him, pulling the curtains closed behind them to 
 make use of the newly installed computer. 
 ��������All the records on the three cases he'd been assigned 
 had been installed, and one of those cases was Dante's. 
 With Elaine's help the computer was hooked up to the 
 internet in next to no time, via the mobile phone Welsh had 
 presented him with on his arrival. 
 ��������With a little more help from Elaine he contacted the 
 Head Office of the RCMP. Elaine slipped away to rejoin the 
 party and Ray slipped into his comfy chair and awkwardly 
 typed out a message notifying them that he was the New Phsyc 
 officer of the CPD, and detective in charge of the Dante 
 McIntire case stateside, and informed them of the recent 
 parcel bomb, which may or may not have been the work of 
 Dante. Then he requested to be notified of his movements, 
 particularily if he crossed the border and included the 
 number of his mobile phone and badge number. 
 ��������He heard noises coming the nursery that he'd already 
 come to recognise as the precuser to a full throated feed me 
 wail. Sending the message he closed down the programme and 
 headed for the nursery, making a stop at the tiny room that 
 held all the baby care parenphenilia to collect a prepared 
 bottle of expressed breast milk from the warmer, popping it 
 in his pocket. 
 ��������He discovered Francesca Jnr was the culprit and leaned 
 over the side of the cot to tease her lip with a finger. She 
 opened her mouth and latched onto his finger and started 
 suckling. 
 ��������"Are we hungry, Mia Caro?" he asked knowing the answer 
 as he drew his hand back. 
 ��������She made mewling noises as he pulled the bottle from 
 his pocket and popped the cover off. He was about to start 
 feeding her when he heard his mobile phone ringing. 
 ��������"What the hell?" 
 ��������Fumbling with the bottle, he got the bottle back into 
 his pocket and with an effort, wincing and hissing, he got 
 the baby out of the cot, shifting her to his shoulder and 
 carried her into the office where he'd left the phone. 
 Sinking into the chair, he sat cross legged and set the baby 
 in his lap. Tapping the phone he picked it up moving it to 
 his shoulder and pulled out the bottle as he answered. 
 ��������"You have reached officer Vecchio's office, this is the 
 human answering service speaking." 
 ��������The cap popped off the bottle and he listened to the 
 Mountie on the other end identify himself as the head of the 
 McIntire Task force and ask to speak to him. 
 ��������"Speaking. I thought you were someone else.. That was a 
 preety fast response, I only just sent the e-mail message 
 off," Ray said giving the baby the bottle, then smiling as 
 she latched on and started suckling hungrily. 
 ��������:"E-Mail?": 
 ��������"This isn't about my e-mail?" 
 ��������"Luitenant Welsh informed us yesterday that a new 
 officer was taking over the Dante Case stateside." 
 ��������"That's me, that's what my E-Mail was about." 
 ��������He awkwardly slipped his crippled hand under the bottle 
 to free up his right, and turned the chair to reach out and 
 open a drawer, pulling out a legal pad and pen and scooted 
 the chair to a clear section of the desk. 
 ��������"I take it there's been more action on your side," Ray 
 said prepared to take down the details. 
 ��������"I've got nothing but Bad news. Your Luitenant Welsh 
 informed us of the bombing at the time, and the opinon 
 expressed by Constable Fraser." 
 ��������"I'm aware of his opinon." 
 ��������"It would seem so is McIntire. We have a leak." 
 ��������"What?" 
 ��������"There are a few people in the RCMP who think McIntire 
 is doing us a huge favour, especially after his terror 
 crusade netted a drug lord responisble for killing several 
 of our people.. I've suspect for some time now, that it's no 
 coincidence that he was able to avoid the traps we set to 
 catch him.. I finally got confirmation this morning." 
 ��������"In what way?" 
 ��������"Someone on my team is obviously among those who think 
 he's doing us a favour.. The new's of the bomb and Fraser's 
 opinon was passed on to McIntire. I recived a letter in the 
 mail this morning, specifically addressed to me, from 
 McIntire, that I think you should see." 
 ��������"What did it say?" 
 ��������"Do you have a fax?" 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Welsh was laughing along with a group of his officer's 
 at a joke when his cel phone trilled. He patted his coat 
 down and moved away from the group to a quiet corner of the 
 room to answer it. 
 ��������:"Luitenant, it's me, Ray.": 
 ��������Welsh looked around the room. 
 ��������:"I'm in the office" 
 ��������Welsh heard babies squaling in the background and 
 smiled faintly thinking Ray just wanted him to send Meg in 
 for him." 
 ��������"Can you come, and bring Meg with you. The RCMP just 
 got a very long letter from McIntire, and faxed it through 
 to me.. I think you better take a look at it," Ray went on 
 to say wiping the smile off his face. 
 ��������"Oh, and bring Fraser too.. I've got more hungry 
 infants than I can handle at once right now." 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 �������������������������������� Part Twenty 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Once the babies were fed and changed they were set on a 
 bunny rug and Fraser entertained them. Meg joined Ray and 
 Welsh in Ray's office, closing the doors behind her. 
 ��������Welsh was handing back the sheath of pages that was the 
 print out of faxed copy of Dante's letter the RCMP had 
 received and forwarded onto Ray. 
 ��������"What's your opinion?" 
 ��������"He's definitely Psychasthenic." 
 ��������Welsh rolled his eyes. 
 ��������"Tell me something I don't already know." 
 ��������"What do you have?" Meg asked. 
 ��������Ray handed her the papers. 
 ��������"20 pages worth of ranting. He confessed to every crime 
 he committed, including at least 3 murders and 6 arson 
 attacks that they didn't know about. They're not on the list 
 I've got." 
 ��������"Why did he..?" 
 ��������"They've got a leak on their end. Someone who's 
 possibly helping him find his victims.. There are some 
 officers who think he's doing them a big favour. Whoever the 
 leak is told him about the bomb I received." 
 ��������Meg started flipping through the long missive. 
 ��������"He states 3 times that he didn't send it. Even though 
 he admitted he sent the other one. He backed up Fraser's 
 opinion of the explosion." 
 ��������"Which was?" 
 ��������"That Dante didn't send it. He kept saying it wasn't 
 right. That even though Dante had the opportunity and motive 
 he wouldn't send explosives. Because something like that 
 could harm innocents. And after reading that, I have to 
 agree with Fraser.. Just look at it, every page lists the 
 records of the scum he killed, he went after killers and 
 rapists. Half his victims worked for this Fitzsimmon's 
 character, the crime lord who handed himself over to the 
 authorities." 
 ��������Meg handed the papers back to him. Ray flipped through 
 them, and then tapped one. 
 ��������"Here, he says he lost his temper and didn't mean to 
 hurt Fraser and that all this death and destruction is his 
 way of making up for what he did to Fraser. He says he 
 promised Fraser that he'd never hurt him again. And he broke 
 his promise, and doesn't deserve to have a man like Benni." 
 ��������He flipped through to the second last page. 
 ��������"And here.. He proved Fraser right again.. Fraser said 
 he was sick, that there was something physically wrong with 
 him. Dante says, he's dying, he's well aware of the fact. He 
 finally did what Fraser asked him to and went to see a 
 doctor who told him he has a brain tumour growing in the 
 worse possible place. It's untreatable." 
 ��������Ray tossed the pages down on the desk. 
 ��������"And the rest of it is a rant about how he's gonna take 
 out everyone who ever hurt Fraser and got away with it 
 before he goes. He's making sure the people who hurt Fraser 
 pay for what they did."" 
 ��������"Does he specifically say that you are not on his hit 
 list anymore?" 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"But he says it in a round about way," Welsh added. 
 ��������"He said no such thing," Ray said. 
 ��������"What do you mean?" 
 ��������"I mean all he said was that he didn't send that bomb 
 and wouldn't do something like that because it could kill 
 innocent people. He didn't say he has no interest in taking 
 me out. Just that no innocents would die as a result of his 
 Vendetta.." 
 ��������"You still think you're on his hit list?" 
 ��������"I need time to go over all this.. You want a better 
 profile .." 
 ��������"I didn't ask for a profile I asked if you still think 
 you're on his hit list." 
 ��������Ray drew in a deep breath. 
 ��������"I think there's a very high chance that I am. Benni 
 said to go over the data on the other arson attacks and 
 compare it to the evidence they got at the house in Canada. 
 He was wrong about who the arson was aimed at.. It wasn't 
 aimed at Meg. He will never aim his violence at Meg, as far 
 as he's concerned Meg is just doing the right thing by one 
 of her men. He did the same sort of thing for Benni. Benni 
 was his subordinate once, and he got hurt, bad, when he 
 walked out at the wrong time. He took care of Fraser and 
 helped him after the event - even though he was really 
 pissed off with Fraser, with justifiable reason. In this 
 case he knows he hurt Fraser as bad as the bastards he's 
 hunting down now, and Benni was her subordinate.. So in his 
 view it's her duty to take care of Fraser."�������� 
 ��������"Uh-hu. And if we take that one step further that means 
 that the fire was aimed at..?" 
 ��������"It was aimed at me." 
 ��������"How did you come to that conclusion?" 
 ��������Ray sat, sliding his chair up to the computer and 
 clicked through his programmes. 
 ��������"Well, he's not after Fraser, or Meg, which naturally 
 leaves me as the target, and beyond that.." 
 ��������Ray found the programme he was after then called up one 
 that showed a floor plan of a house. 
 ��������"That's the floor plan of our house in Canada," Meg 
 said after a glance. 
 ��������Ray nodded and pecked in a command. 
 ��������"Show him where the library is." 
 ��������Meg pointed and a virtual explosion took place under 
 her finger. She pulled her hand back, and another virtual 
 explosion took place, followed by another. 
 ��������"Your study and bedroom." 
 ��������The virtual flames started spreading through the rest 
 of the virtual house. 
 ��������"That's where the fires started. They found accelerants 
 in all three places. He lit the first fire in the library, 
 made his way to the study and lit that, and torched the 
 bedroom on his way out. They could tell where each fire 
 started, and what order they started by the amount of damage 
 to the house and rooms around it," Ray said tapping the 
 screen. 
 ��������"The rooms either side of the library suffered the most 
 extensive damage, and ceiling over it collapsed which is how 
 they know that's where he started the first fire." 
 ��������"I don't remember him taking credit for that in the 
 letter." 
 ��������Ray rolled the chair back to where he left the copy of 
 the letter and scattered the pages till he found what he was 
 looking for and tapped the page. 
 ��������"It's right here, second last on the list of places he 
 torched. That's our address back in Canada." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"And the third last place listed here is for a house in 
 Queensbourgh lane," he said looking around at Meg. 
 ��������"That was only two blocks away." 
 ��������"That's how he found you. He probably saw you and 
 Fraser out walking Deif and followed you back to the 
 house.." 
 ��������"Yeesss.. It makes sense now." 
 ��������"Speaking of Deifenbaker, where is he?" 
 ��������"He was sick, they've been keeping him in quarantine 
 until they find out why." 
 ��������"What contact number did you give them to let you know 
 it was time to get him out?" 
 ��������"Your family home's phone number." 
 ��������"Don't you think you should call them, hmm? They can't 
 exactly ring us there. There's no one home to take the 
 call." 
 ��������A little embarrassed that she hadn't thought of it, Meg 
 nodded and reached for his phone. 
 ��������"Uh-uh.. Hands off, that's for official business only." 
 ��������She rolled her eyes and spun on her heels walking away. 
 �������� 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg rolled over in bed to blearily look at her buzzing 
 alarm clock before she slapped it off. Muttering about 4am 
 feeding's, she dragged herself out of bed, grabbing her robe 
 on the way to the door and promised herself that she'd talk 
 Fraser into taking the early morning feeding's. 
 ��������She pulled on her robe and slid the door open, stepping 
 into the nursery to stop dead in her tracks, looking around 
 the room. All three cots were empty and the room was lit up, 
 not by its own lights, but via the lights from the office. 
 ��������Trudging across the room, she peered through the thick 
 glass and almost chuckled when she saw Ray and the babies. 
 Judging by the blue jump suit covered in bunnies, Gregory 
 was lying in Ray's lap kicking his little legs and waving 
 his arms around as Ray held a now empty bottle to the baby's 
 mouth with his crippled hand. The other two little bundles 
 of joy were lying in baby bouncers set on the desk either 
 side of the computer. Pacifier's kept Francis and Francesca 
 Jnr quiet as they made little swipes at the mobiles which 
 had been a gift and now hung stands clamped to the shelves 
 that surrounded the computer. 
 ��������The reason Ray didn't notice the baby had finished with 
 its bottle was because he was busy intently studying the 
 glowing computer screen. 
 ��������Both Meg and Ray jumped half out of their skins as the 
 sound of the nursery door handle being jiggled was followed 
 by an alarm loud enough to wake the dead. The baby bottle 
 went flying, and Ray spun the chair around with a hand to 
 the desk as Meg spun around to look at the door. 
 ��������Ray slid the chair across the floor, ripping open a 
 drawer and pulled out his gun, tucking it under his arm 
 before he rolled the chair further across the room and 
 pulled out the under the desk rolling file cabinet and put 
 it between the chair and the door shielding the baby in his 
 lap with it. He held the baby carefully, moving a leg to the 
 floor but keeping it in his lap, then he pushed the mobile 
 file cabinet forward, scooting the chair up to the doors. 
 Opening the doors just enough to slip a hand through, Ray 
 pulled the gun out preparing to defend himself and his 
 infants. 
 ��������Meg glanced around as the doors parted to see the gun 
 poke through the gap and Ray noticed her presence for the 
 first time. 
 ��������"Get behind the curtains," he hissed at her. 
 ��������She slid behind the curtains without a sound and 
 listened intently. Sure enough she heard the sound of 
 movement coming from the bedroom. That was followed by the 
 sound of the second slide door being nudged open a little 
 more. 
 ��������"Freeze! Hold it right there, or I'll blow your head 
 off," Ray growled 
 ��������"Don't shot, it's me," Fraser cried out. 
 ��������"Benni, Damnit, don't you have any sense?!" Ray growled 
 withdrawing the gun. 
 ��������Meg stepped out from behind the curtains as Fraser 
 approached. 
 ��������"The babies need to be feed." 
 ��������"He beat us both to it." 
 ��������Ray pushed the mobile file cabinet away and shoved 
 against the door. The chair rolled back, and he spun it 
 around with his foot, stopping himself from hitting the desk 
 with his hand. Snatching up the phone he hit the speed dial 
 with his thumb as Fraser and Meg moved into the room behind 
 him. 
 ��������"This is Vecchio.. I'm calling in about the alarm, it's 
 a false alarm. Fraser set it off trying to get in to feed 
 the babies. We don't need a response. Thank-you." 
 ��������He flipped it closed setting it aside and spun. 
 ��������"One of you better get to the door before someone 
 breaks their foot trying to kick it in to get inside." 
 ��������Meg hurried away leaving Fraser to face the now grumpy 
 Ray's attention. Ray ignored him as the babies started 
 squalling and rolled the chair across the room to hit the 
 alarms controls and punch in the code to shut it down and 
 reset it. 
 ��������"How could you do *that* after I told you they rigged 
 the place with Alarms?" 
 ��������"You forget to mention they rigged the nursery door 
 too." 
 ��������"It is one of the ways to reach the office Benni." 
 ��������"I'm sorry.. I was just trying to.." 
 ��������"Be helpful.. I know.. I know.. So be helpful, I can't 
 calm down three babies at once." 
 ��������Fraser moved in to take Francis from his bouncer and 
 cradled the asexual baby in his arms, to start rocking and 
 crooning away to the baby. Ray pushed himself to Francesca's 
 spot, brought his leg back up supporting Gregory then 
 reached out to bounce Francesca Jnr in her bouncer, while he 
 bounced the boy on his lap. 
 ��������Frannie and her Mother arrived via the main bedroom in 
 short order and Frannie took her name sake from the bouncer 
 to start rocking her. 
 ��������"What happened?" 
 ��������"Fraser accidentally set off the arm, everything's 
 alright.. Except to my plan to give everyone a chance to 
 sleep through a night." 
 ��������"I'm sorry." 
 ��������"Yeah, yeah, I know.. Next time, you'll know better 
 than to creep around in the wee small hours to feed the 
 babies without being asked to handle it." 
 ��������Fraser nodded and Ray swatted his mother's hands away 
 as she tried to take Gregory from him. 
 ��������"I can handle him." 
 ��������Just to prove his father right, the little bundle of 
 not so joyful baby settled down and happily waved his little 
 legs and arms around, to latch onto Ray's finger when Ray 
 reached down to stroke his face. 
 ��������"Ohmigod," Frannie squeaked. 
 ��������Ray pushed the chair back to the computer and blocked 
 her view of the grizzly picture of a corpse on the screen as 
 he put the mouse to use closing the window. 
 ��������"How did you hear that alarm? I thought this place was 
 sound proofed." 
 ��������"I left my door open a little, so I could hear the 
 babies if they started crying," his mother said.�������� 
 ��������Frannie nodded as if to say me too. 
 ��������"With the door to the nursery closed you wouldna heard 
 a thing, did you think of that?" 
 ��������From the looks of chagrin on their faces it was obvious 
 they hadn't.�������� 
 ��������"You seem to have had them all under control." 
 ��������"I checked them before I went to make some coffee and 
 discovered they all needed a diaper change and decided to 
 feed 'em while I was at it and keep them from waking up 
 Meg." 
 ��������"No need to ask what you were doing up so late." 
 ��������"I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get some work done. 
 I gotta start earning a wage now I'm officially broke 
 again." 
 ��������"You blew *all* that money?!" 
 ��������"Getting this place fixed up, paying for the repairs to 
 the other place and the bills for the triplets, I was wiped 
 out. Throwing that party took the last of my money, but I 
 figured I owed em for all the help they gave to get this 
 place fixed up in time to bring the babies here." 
 ��������"If you had consulted me about those hospital bills, 
 Raymond you would know there was no need to pay for them," 
 Meg said as she returned. 
 ��������They all looked around as she stalked into the room, 
 irritated. She held out her hands to Frannie and Frannie 
 handed her name sake over. 
 ��������"Fine, I'll give them to you and you can get your 
 health fund to refund the money," was Ray's response. 
 ��������"And while you're at it you can show me the receipts 
 for the work on this place. I know you had it redecorated 
 because I didn't like it the way it was." 
 ��������"Trust me, it wasn't just because you hated the decor I 
 thought it was pretty disgusting myself." 
 ��������"Fine, we'll spit the difference, straight down the 
 middle." 
 ��������"No, we wont." 
 ��������Frannie and her mother backed up and as one spun on 
 their heels and walked out. 
 ��������"Yes, we will. It may be your name on the title deeds 
 but you said this was *our* home. And unless you stop 
 playing Macho games of I'm the one the one who has to 
 support the family, I'm going to take this instant family 
 you won't even admit is yours and go home to my mother who 
 I'm sure would be overjoyed to see her grandchildren." 
 ��������"You do that." 
 ��������She stared at him, then gave him a narrow eyed look. 
 ��������"You don't get rid of me and the babies that easily. 
 This house is as secure as it's possible to make a home, and 
 McIntire won't touch me or the children." 
 ��������He clicked his fingers making a rats gesture. 
 ��������"You worked it out." 
 ��������"You're not the only one who studied that Profiling 
 Guide, Studmuffin. I read it to you, remember. I can do an 
 instant profile on you any time I care too." 
 ��������"You can stop bouncing the baby now, Ray. I think he's 
 gone to sleep," Fraser intruded 
 ��������Ray looked down to see that little Gregory was indeed 
 asleep. Meg stepped closer to look at him and transferred 
 the sleepy Francesca Jnr to her shoulder to reach down and 
 caress Gregory's cheek. The baby made a few suckling 
 movements and let out a little sigh.�������� 
 ��������"Did I mention that you handled them very well?" 
 ��������"Thank-you." 
 ��������"Don't do it again. You could have an accident, I 
 imagine your arm is killing you after all that effort, 
 and.." 
 ��������Ray reached up to poke her in the sternum. 
 ��������"Don't tell me to stay out of my family's care, 
 Megatron." 
 ��������"Megatron??" Fraser queried and was ignored. 
 ��������"I intend to have a big part of their upraising. A 
 *hands on* part. And you better get used to it. I don't care 
 if I can only use one arm, or that it hurts when I have to 
 use both - I gotta get used to the pain anyway cause I'm 
 gonna suffer it for the rest of my life." 
 ��������"There is no reason to suffer pain when you don't have 
 too, Fraser and I are quite capable of..." 
 ��������"You're not the only one who can threaten to walk out 
 here. If you try stopping me having an active role in taking 
 care of my babies I will walk and take Ma and Frannie with 
 me," Ray cut in. 
 ��������"Oh, so now when you want to play *surrogate* daddy, 
 they're *your* babies." 
 ��������"I am not playing surrogate, I know they're mine now." 
 ��������"How? I never did get around to having that paternity 
 test done." 
 ��������"Ma." 
 ��������"Don't tell me, she said the boys look just like you 
 did when you were a baby and that was good enough for you." 
 ��������"No.. She knows that I didn't think they were mine, 
 Frannie heard me say it and told her to stop planning our 
 wedding because they weren't mine. I got grilled about why I 
 thought they were someone else's while they were still in 
 the hospital. And she did something no one else could do.. 
 Give me a reason why all the efforts to have a family with 
 my ex-wife failed. And it had nothing to do with me. The 
 fertility problem was my ex's" 
 ��������"Oh.. So you took her word for it, when my word that 
 you were the father wasn't good enough." 
 ��������"No I did not take her word for it. I contacted my ex, 
 told her what my mother said, and asked her if it was true. 
 she confirmed it.. After she talked to a doctor." 
 ��������"In other words.. she didn't realise the problem was 
 hers until you told her what your mother told you." 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������"How did your mother.." 
 ��������"Angie caught the mumps from some kid she was baby 
 sitting and I didn't know about it.. I got my skull 
 fractured when I hit in the head with a bottle while I was 
 trying to deal with a bar room brawl during my day's as a 
 man in uniform. I was comatose the whole time Angie was down 
 with the mumps. 6 weeks all up - not her, me. No one ever 
 told Angie that mumps could cause infertility. And Ma came 
 across that little bit of information when she was going 
 through her trusty Medical encyclopedia trying to work out 
 what was wrong with one of Maria's kids and worked it out 
 for herself." 
 ��������"Oh, that would explain it." 
 ��������"Ange.. My ex, tracked down the Doctor who treated her 
 at the time, confirmed my mother's suspicions, then visited 
 a gynaecologist who had good and bad news. The Good news was 
 that she's not infertile, the bad news was that she is 
 incapable of having children without specialist intervention 
 of the kind we never had because we couldn't afford it." 
 ��������"Ah." 
 ��������"I'm sure my mother thought she was just being helpful 
 when she told me about Angie's problem. But I wish she'd 
 kept her suspicions to herself. I woulda chalked it up to 
 that explanation you gave.. You know the one about being 
 under stress. Cause even though the physical reason Ange and 
 I never had a family was with her, the actual fault was 
 mine." 
 ��������"I don't understand. 
 �������� "Ange was all for starting a family right away.. I 
 wasn't, for various reasons, the main one being finances. I 
 wanted to have a home before I started a family, I didn't 
 plan on spending the rest of my life living under my parents 
 roof.. I wanted a chance to save up at least enough to put a 
 deposit down on a house. An apartment is no place to raise a 
 baby. So I made sure we didn't have any kids before I was 
 good and ready to become a daddy. By which time it was too 
 damn late." 
 ��������"Oh.." 
 ��������"She knows it too.. She was not pleased.. She knows I 
 became a daddy.. She took strips of me for it. And I suppose 
 she's got a right to be angry. You and I ain't married and 
 we've got the family she wanted and I deprived her off 
 letting my pride get in the way. I ain't gonna make the same 
 mistake twice.. If you want to cover the costs of 
 redecorating this place. Go right ahead, but I ain't 
 splitting the costs right down the middle, it ain't my name 
 on the title deeds, it *our* names.. Your's, Benni's and 
 mine." 
 ��������Meg and Fraser stared at him. 
 ��������"So if you want to split the costs they gotta go three 
 ways." 
 ��������"You put my name on the deeds?" Fraser breathed unable 
 to believe what he was hearing. 
 ��������Ray glanced at the doors and Fraser moved across the 
 room to close them before moving back to the desk, to perch 
 on the edge. 
 ��������"I told you, I'd hate to have to chose between you and 
 Meg. I'm not about to go public with the fact we're a 
 threesome. If it happens, it can wait till you are 
 officially declared fit to handle your own affairs. Meg and 
 I could get into serious trouble if it happened before 
 that." 
 ��������"I..understand." 
 ��������"Do you, I mean, do you really understand Benni? Or are 
 you just saying that because you think that's what I want to 
 hear. Every now and then I think you're ready, then you do 
 something that makes me kick myself for wishful thinking." 
 ��������"I do understand. You are my legal guardians. You could 
 be charged with sexual misconduct if people found out that 
 we had intimate relations." 
 ��������"He understands alright." 
 ��������"And I'm surprised that he does.. When so much else can 
 go right over his head." 
 ��������"When that man and woman came to Meg's Apartment to 
 interview you and inspect the woman.. The woman tried to 
 question me.." 
 ��������Ray nodded, remembering the event in question. 
 ��������"I only vaguely comprehended what she was trying to do 
 and I couldn't have answered her leading questions even if 
 I'd been inclined to at the time.. I couldn't express my 
 self at all at that time." 
 ��������"She asked you leading questions." 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"Do you remember when you broke your wrist, the day my 
 allergy manifested?" 
 ��������Ray nodded, then he remembered something else and 
 guessed what Fraser was about to say. 
 ��������"They thought something was up then, because of what 
 you did to be able to get to me at the hospital, by letting 
 that Doctor think you were my S.O." 
 ��������Fraser nodded. 
 ��������"She said, the hospital records stated that we were a 
 couple. She wanted to know if that was still the case, if we 
 were having sex.. If you touched me in a sexual manner, if 
 Meg ever touched me that way.. She even stated outright that 
 if you did it was wrong, and would be classed as a 
 misdemeanour, that they would have you charged and take me 
 to a," he made a face, "nice hospital where the doctors and 
 counsellors would help me get better." 
 ��������Ray scowled. 
 ��������"I knew I didn't like her." 
 ��������"If they suspected that why did they ever give us 
 guardianship?" Meg wondered aloud. 
 ��������"I think I convinced her partner that Fraser was 
 getting the best care he could get under the circumstances. 
 And I don't think we did anything wrong. We didn't make him 
 do anything that he didn't want to do.. We never forced him 
 to join us.. Except for..one occasion when I'm not sure of 
 the exact circumstances, it was always his decision to get 
 involved." 
 ��������"You're talking about the time we greeted you in full 
 dress reds." 
 ��������Ray nodded. 
 ��������"That was my idea," Meg admitted, "but I didn't make 
 him do it. You told me to read that book, and I only did 
 what the book said. Which was to show the victim that they 
 wouldn't be treated the same way as they had by the abuser." 
 ��������"Oh, so you decided to use me to show him that bondage 
 games didn't have to necessarily mean Domination." 
 ��������"He used to.. chain me to the bed." 
 ��������They both looked at Fraser. 
 ��������"He put a collar on me and made me wear it all the 
 time.. And he used it to chain me to the bed. He made me 
 wear matching cuffs too.. He used those to do it sometimes.. 
 And he would leave me there... chained to the bed while he 
 went out to make sure I couldn't leave the apartment all the 
 time during the last few weeks." 
 ��������"Did you try to break loose?" 
 ��������"All the time.. As soon as he left.. But he always kept 
 the chain so short that I couldn't reach beyond the bed to 
 find something to break the lock and the chain was too 
 strong.. But I finally found a way.. I pocketed a sharp 
 knife while I was loose one night and hid it where I could 
 reach it and I used it the next time he left me chained to 
 the bed when he went out and cut through the collar and 
 cuffs. But it took too long.. He caught me before I could 
 get out.. And locked me in.. And brought new ones. And he 
 used those to do it.. And he didn't stop until I fought them 
 so hard I passed out.. I had bruises and friction burns on 
 my neck and wrists that couldn't be hidden.. Or ignored 
 after that." 
 ��������If he hadn't had a lap full of baby Ray would have 
 risen to his feet to comfort Fraser, with a cuddle and 
 promises that if he had his way nothing like that would ever 
 happen to him again. He opened his mouth to say words to 
 that effect but Fraser had only stopped to draw in a deep 
 breath. 
 ��������"That was wrong.. That was not my fault.. I do 
 understand that.. I understand what you told me.. No one 
 deserves to be degraded that way," Fraser went on, then he 
 rose and moved, juggling the baby to his shoulder, to reach 
 out and caress Meg's cheek. 
 ��������"You did the right thing.. Even though I could barely 
 comprehend it at the time.. What we did that day was not 
 wrong, it was not meant to humiliate, degrade or dominate. 
 That was.. when I learned the difference. It was just a game 
 with you.. You stopped and made him calm down and took the 
 cuffs off when he became excited and started fighting them. 
 That was something Dante would never do for me. That's what 
 makes you different. You gave Ray a choice, and a chance to 
 back out of it.. I never got that choice. But if you asked 
 me to do it, if either of you asked me to do that, I would 
 agree to it, because I trust you. Because I know it would be 
 nothing more than a game." 
 ��������Fraser got two radiant smiles at that. 
 ��������"But right now.. I just wish we could sleep in the same 
 bed together again.. But I understand that we can't do that 
 right now." 
 ��������"Oh, there's no reason we can't do that now if that's 
 what you want, Benni." 
 ��������"Your mother and Frannie.." 
 ��������"Don't worry about them.. After that wake up call 
 they'll sleep in.. Besides, if you want to get a little 
 frisky all we have to do is make sure *all* the doors are 
 closed and they won't hear a thing." 
 ��������Fraser glanced at Meg. 
 ��������"Well, I don't know about Fraser, but I've been feeling 
 frisky for months and like the Rolling stones say, I can't 
 get no satisfaction." 
 ��������Ray laughed at that, then awkwardly and with a barely 
 controlled grimace moved little Gregory to his shoulder 
 before rising to his feet. 
 ��������"Then what say we put our instant family here to bed 
 and get reacquainted." 
 ��������"Can we do that, I mean, Meg just had the babies, is it 
 safe too.." 
 ��������"I had a C-Section. And the Doctor gave me the all 
 clear the other day. There's no reason I can't get frisky if 
 I want to."�������� 
 ��������"Oh..well.. Let's put the babies to bed then shall we." 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Twenty One 
 
 �������������������������������� ooOO0=@=0OOoo�������� 
 
 ��������After getting Francesca Jnr settled, Meg entered the 
 bedroom to find Fraser under the blankets but no Ray. 
 ��������"Where's Ray?" 
 ��������"He's making sure all the other doors are closed." 
 ��������Considering it had taken her a good ten minutes to get 
 Francesca Jnr settled, Meg found it a tad suspicious that 
 little job wasn't over and done with already. 
 ��������"I just want to get a drink of water. I'll be back in a 
 minute. Don't even think of getting so comfortable you fall 
 asleep there," she said heading for the other door way. 
 ��������He gave her a little smile and waited until she left 
 the room to roll over and reach for the alarm clock to reset 
 the alarm. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg headed for the kitchen to give truth to her lie 
 about the glass of water, and discovered Ray sitting on a 
 stool. He was staring at a small medication bottle on the 
 bench with a hypodermic needle and sterile swab sachet 
 beside it. 
 ��������"Raymond?" 
 ��������He glanced up at her and back to the medication with a 
 sigh.�������� 
 ��������"You know that old saying.. About the spirit being 
 willing." 
 ��������She approached and reached out to pick up the bottle 
 and looked at it. 
 ��������"This isn't Fraser's." 
 ��������"It's mine, Paul gave it to me." 
 ��������"It's for your arm isn't it?" 
 ��������"He said I should use it if I was going to get up to 
 anything that might make me use my arm.. Everything beyond 
 raising and lowering it is painful.." 
 ��������"You hide it well." 
 ��������"I'm always taking pain killers for it.. But they just 
 keep the ever present pain down, Sometimes.. When I move my 
 arm without thinking, I just wanna scream and wish he had 
 amputated it. It was pure vanity that made me beg him not to 
 do it. I didn't want go through the rest of my life with 
 only one arm. He said, I better be ready to pay the price 
 for keeping it." 
 ��������"And the price is pain." 
 ��������"Pain I can handle.. With the pills he gave me.. The 
 occasional twinge of severe pain, I can handle.. But 
 sometimes it goes beyond pain, sometimes it's pure 
 unadulterated agony," he said, heaving a deep sigh, "Like 
 just now.. I shut the door in the hall and reached for the 
 light switch near it without thinking.. Big mistake. It was 
 so bad I almost passed out" 
 ��������She plunged the needle through the cap of the bottle 
 and loaded the syringe. 
 ��������"That's why you came after this." 
 ��������He sighed with a nod and held up his right arm, his 
 hand was shaking so bad that if he'd been holding a carton 
 of milk he could have turned it into a milk shake into next 
 to no time. She ripped the sachet open with her teeth and 
 then reached out to pull his sleeve back to swab a spot near 
 his elbow where a vein was clearly visible. 
 ��������"If you give me that shot I'm gonna be pathetically 
 useless in bed. It's not just pain it kills." 
 ��������Her hand froze as she reached for the loaded syringe. 
 ��������"That's why you were just sitting her staring at it." 
 ��������"That and the fact I couldn't inject myself with it 
 right now. I was.. hoping the pain would fade to a 
 manageable level." 
 ��������Her hand fell on the swab packet. 
 ��������"Do you have any more of these?" 
 ��������He nodded and waved in the direction of the 
 refrigerator. 
 ��������"In the red container." 
 ��������She capped the syringe and slipped it into her pocket 
 before she collected the bottle and carried it to the 
 refrigerator. She found the container he mentioned and 
 opened it to find a 11 identical bottles, a white pill 
 bottle and a packet of swab sachets. She slipped the bottle 
 back into the container and pulled out a swab tucking it 
 into her pocket and then she pulled the pill bottle out and 
 looked at it. His name was on the label, along with 
 instruction on how many to take when necessary. Opening the 
 bottle she looked inside to find it was close to empty. She 
 tapped two pills out then put it and the put the container 
 back where she found it. 
 ��������He watched her move from the refrigerator to the 
 cupboards where she fetched a glass to fill it. Then she 
 joined him and tapped his lips with a finger. 
 ��������"Open up." 
 ��������He did and she popped the pills into his mouth and 
 helped him drink. 
 ��������"How long do they take to work?" 
 ��������"At least 20 minutes." 
 ��������Setting the glass down she took his shaking hand and 
 tugged him off the stool to lead him out of the kitchen. 
 ��������"Do you know what Endorphin's are?" 
 ��������He smiled faintly. 
 ��������"Yeah." 
 ��������"I think it's time we reminded your body what they 
 are." 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"Ah, good, you didn't fall asleep on us." 
 ��������"I was about to go looking for you." 
 ��������"Ray bumped his arm." 
 ��������"Ouch." 
 ��������Ray gave a weak smile. 
 ��������"It's a little tender right now, so we just have to 
 make sure we don't anything that makes him go through the 
 roof for the wrong reasons," Meg told Fraser. 
 ��������"Oh," Fraser said disappointed as he came to the 
 conclusion that meant getting "reacquainted" was out. 
 ��������Meg pulled the swab and syringe out of her pocket and 
 set them on the bed side table before she turned to give Ray 
 a light push to make him sit on the edge of the bed. 
 ��������"That doesn't mean what you think, Ben, I think one of 
 your fabulous back rubs would help him rediscover the mood." 
 ��������Fraser scrambled out from under the blankets and 
 crawled over the bed to kneel behind Ray. 
 ��������"You'll have to remove his top." 
 ��������She smiled, kneeling before Ray to begin the slow 
 process of undoing the half dozen buttons. She kissed her 
 way down his torso with each new button that was separated 
 from its button hole. The whole time Fraser's fingers 
 meandered over Ray's back through the thin material of his 
 soft cotton pyjama top. By the time Meg reached his belly 
 button he started forgetting about the pain in his arm and 
 remembering what it was he missed so much about his lovers. 
 ��������"I love Endorphin's" he murmured as she worked her way 
 back up his chest and gently pushed his top away. 
 ��������With a chuckle she kissed him while Fraser took care of 
 getting the sleeve over Ray's brace with infinite care. The 
 top hit the floor and Fraser's hands started moving over his 
 back finding every point of tension and working with a 
 gentle skill to eliminate it. Meg's hand's got busy along 
 with Fraser's, moving over Ray's torso, her finger's 
 skittering over skin which grew warmer to touch as they 
 worked. Her mouth moved from his to glide over his throat 
 and shoulder before moving lower, trailing kisses and a nip 
 or two down his chest as her hands travelled lower. 
 ��������He gave a pleased little growl as her mouth closed over 
 his nipple and she began to lave that bud with her tongue 
 and her fingers teased his skin at the waist band of his 
 pants. He arched, both his body and his neck when he felt 
 Fraser's mouth against his neck. 
 ��������"Oooh yes," he breathed. 
 ��������Meg's teeth began to gently tease the hard bud his 
 nipple had become as her tongue flicked it. And Fraser gave 
 him a thorough love bite. 
 ��������"I...uh..think..you better stop." 
 ��������They stopped, Fraser leaning forward to look at him, 
 Meg looking up. 
 ��������"Or this is gonna be all over real soon." 
 ��������They both chuckled and Meg rose, taking his hand 
 drawing him up to his feet. His pants joined his shirt in 
 short order and they climbed under the blankets where Fraser 
 and Ray turned their attentions to Meg and set about making 
 sure she got satisfaction, with nothing but their hands and 
 mouths. 
 ��������"God.. I missed this." 
 ��������"Me too," Ray said as he moved up her body to kiss her. 
 ��������"Me three," Fraser chimed in making them giggle. 
 ��������"I think me three is the odd man out, don't you."�������� 
 ��������"I agree with Me too," Meg said. 
 ��������With that Meg and Ray pounced on Fraser and had him 
 shrieking with laughter and pleasure through the means of 
 tickles, caresses, kisses, nips, sucks and his favourite 
 kind of groping. 
 ��������It was during the midst of this that Fraser's hands 
 stopped clawing at the sheets and sought out Ray's body to 
 pull him close. A husky passionate request had Ray rearing 
 up wide eyed, startling Meg, and Fraser blushed from head to 
 toe and rolled away. 
 ��������Ray reached out to stop him. 
 ��������"Benni.. I didn't say no.. You just.. surprised me." 
 ��������Fraser looked over his shoulder, with a look that 
 melted Ray's heart. 
 ��������"Are you sure you wanna.. do that.. I mean.." 
 ��������Fraser rolled back, and Meg reached out to stroke his 
 chest, waiting to see what happened next. She had a very 
 good idea of what Fraser wanted in mind, the only question 
 being wether he wanted to do it, or have it done to him. 
 ��������"I'm sure that I want to do it, with you. But.. do you 
 want to do it with me." 
 ��������"I.. I.." 
 ��������Fraser reached up to press two fingers lightly to Ray's 
 lips. 
 ��������"I might be ready for that, but you're not, yet." 
 ��������"I'm sorry." 
 ��������Fraser gave him a tremulous smile, and then pulled his 
 head down. 
 ��������"I understand," he said, before kissing Ray putting all 
 his longing, passion and desire for the Italio-American into 
 that kiss and letting his other hand roam over Ray's body. 
 ��������Ray gave a deep moan of pleasure and returned the kiss 
 measure for measure as Fraser's hand roamed lower and lower. 
 The bed shifted suddenly and then Meg's hands joined in and 
 he felt her brush aside his pony tail before her lips 
 brushed the nape of his neck. 
 ��������Between them, Fraser and Meg rolled him onto his back 
 without his tender arm being jostled. He reached out to pull 
 Fraser's head back down.�������� 
 ��������"Later," he promised, and kissed the tip of Fraser's 
 nose, to be rewarded with a radiant smile. 
 ��������Meg's activities thoroughly distracted Ray as Fraser 
 moved away. As she took him into her moist sheath his hands 
 clawed the sheets and he arched under her. Then she froze 
 over him and after a few moments he opened passion glazed 
 eyes and looked up to see her straddling him, with Fraser 
 behind her, looking around her, both of them looking down to 
 his left. 
 ��������He looked down and realised he'd moved his finger's 
 without being aware of the pain that usually accompanied 
 such movement. Before that fact fully sunk in Meg moved over 
 him and he felt Fraser's finger's on the jewels of his 
 manhood. Rational thought fled as together they took him to 
 the heights of ecstasy and pushed him over the edge leaving 
 him crying out in rapture. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"Lieutenant Welsh, good morning, would you like some 
 coffee," Meg greeted Ray's superior the next morning. 
 ��������"Yes, thank-you. Is Ray up? Or is he with your instant 
 family?" 
 ��������He expected a little smile, he didn't get it, instead 
 she turned to lead the way down the corridor. 
 ��������"Ray is still in bed, with his doctor in attendance. 
 Having Ray's sister here convinced him to pay a house call." 
 ��������"What's wrong?" 
 ��������"If something was wrong, he wouldn't be here, he'd be 
 in hospital." 
 ��������"If there's nothing wrong then why did you call the 
 doctor?" 
 ��������"It's just one of the things we have to learn to cope 
 with.. Thanks to McIntire," she said, the last a low growl. 
 ��������Welsh followed her into the kitchen to find Fraser, 
 Frannie and her mother up, dressed and all with a baby on 
 their shoulder. In Fraser's case it was Francis, who gave an 
 indelicate little belch. 
 ��������"Yesss.. Who's a good Bambino," Meg said taping him on 
 the nose as she moved past Fraser. 
 ��������In Frannie's case, she had a damp patch on her shoulder 
 and her name sake was happily mouthing on a curl that had 
 escaped the bun she'd put her hair up into. And Mrs Vecchio 
 was rubbing little Gregory's back. 
 ��������"How do you like your coffee Lieutenant?" Meg asked as 
 she pulled cup from the hooks that held and displayed a 
 matching set of six coffee mugs and set it before the jug to 
 reach for the coffee. 
 ��������He told her and looked around as Gregory gave a belch 
 that put his sib's to shame. 
 ��������"Now where have I heard that before?" Frannie said in a 
 faintly arch tone thinking of her father and making her 
 mother give a faint chuckle. 
 ��������"I heard someone set the alarm off last night," Welsh 
 commented as he accepted the cup Meg handed to him. 
 ��������"That was me," Fraser said, accepting full 
 responsibility. "I didn't realise the alarm system covered 
 the nursery door too and tried to be helpful by coming down 
 to feed the munchkins at 4 am to let Meg and Ray get some 
 sleep." 
 ��������"Not that Ray was sleeping." 
 ��������"He beat everyone too it," Frannie said. 
 ��������"He didn't beat any one to it, he was up half the night 
 working." 
 ��������"Some people play computer games while they nurse a 
 baby, he looks at pictures of corpses instead," Frannie said 
 with a little shudder. 
 ��������"Male or Female?" 
 ��������"Female." 
 ��������"Ah good he's putting some time in on the Pearen case 
 then." 
 ��������"Which one is that? He mentioned three cases," Meg 
 commented as she made herself a cup of coffee, then poked 
 her tongue at Fraser as he gave her a stern look. 
 ��������"The Pearen case is a Double homicide, unsolved, with a 
 traumatised witness we've spent a fortune on specialist 
 counsellors trying to get the story out of. With no luck. It 
 was when that particular case came to mind that the 
 Commissioner decided to run with my idea for bringing Ray 
 back into the fold. They've already spent more than it will 
 cost to run the experiment for six months trying to break 
 that case. If Ray can do it, he can secure his place for the 
 next six months at least." 
 ��������"I don't see how staring at a picture of a corpse is 
 going to help him break a case," Frannie said transferring 
 her name sake to the other shoulder. 
 ��������"Actually, Frannie, you would be surprised at what a 
 profiler can learn about a killer from staring at such a 
 picture." 
 ��������"Particularly in the case of a double homicide where 
 there's a second victim. By comparing picture's he could 
 learn a lot about the killer's M.O.M." 
 ��������"Mom?" 
 ��������"Method of murder." 
 ��������"Oh. I thought that was M.O for modus operandi." 
 ��������"It's much the same thing. In this case, he could work 
 out the particulars of how each person died, in so much as 
 what the killer did and how he or she did it, over the cause 
 of death." 
 ��������Frannie held the baby out. 
 ��������"You hear that Mia Caro, get used to it. You're going 
 to hear them talking like that all the time." 
 ��������There were chuckles all around at that and Frannie 
 rose, still holding the baby out, her nose wrinkling. 
 ��������"Who's got diaper duty, this piccino needs a pooper 
 scooper." 
 ��������Meg set her coffee down moving to take the baby from 
 her. 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg gave the baby a bath, changing her jump suit before 
 transferring her to a cradle. She heard the sliding door 
 open and looked around as Paul entered and stopped dead 
 looking around the room in admiration. 
 ��������"Who's your interior designer and is he still 
 available?" 
 ��������"She's one of Ray and Frannie's cousins, and if you 
 want to hire her you'll have to speak to either Ray or his 
 mother about it. I have no idea how to contact her." 
 ��������"I'll talk to his mother about it, I *love* this room. 
 My patients aren't the only things that can could do with a 
 face lift in my surgery. The waiting room could do with one 
 too." 
 ��������"How's Raymond?" Meg asked to concerned to laugh at 
 that joke. 
 ��������"I gave him something to put him back to sleep. He's 
 still awake, and feeling no pain, but he'll drop off soon." 
 ��������"Apart from that?" 
 ��������"I'm amazed no one came in to stop me from *torturing* 
 him the way he was screaming as I manipulated his arm." 
 ��������"The house has been thoroughly sound proofed. We didn't 
 hear a thing." 
 ��������"Ah, that explains it. Are you sure you saw his fingers 
 move?" 
 ��������"Quite sure. They were definitely moving. And he did a 
 lot more than just move his fingers, he was using his whole 
 arm at one point." 
 ��������"And he didn't scream his lungs out at the time?" 
 ��������"He had other things on his mind at the time." 
 ��������"Babies or sex?" 
 ��������A faint pink flush tinted her cheeks. 
 ��������"The later." 
 ��������"That'd do it. Sex raises the pain threshold. But it 
 doesn't eliminate it. Which means you have two choices, you 
 can either get used to him passing out on you when the pain 
 reaches a point when all the endorphin's in the world 
 couldn't dull it or convince him to wear the new brace I'll 
 drop around tonight. It will keep his arm totally immobile, 
 and have the added benefit of making it much safer to get 
 frisky without worrying about wether or not his arm might 
 get bumped." 
 ��������"Is that a brace you're talking about or a cast?" 
 ��������Paul smiled very faintly. 
 ��������"You could call it a slimline, reusable cast." 
 ��������"No offence, Doctor, there isn't someone we can 
 consult, about more work on his arm, is there? An expert who 
 can .." 
 ��������"There were two such experts at the hospital that I 
 consulted. They examined him, while I had him under, and 
 they both agreed on the same point. Amputation was the most 
 humane thing to do. But he was adamant that he wanted to 
 keep the arm." 
 ��������"He mentioned that you warned him it would come at a 
 price." 
 ��������"That price may not be as high as I thought.. Make him 
 keep the cast on for at least a week, two if possible. Then 
 send him back to me. I'll let Francesca know when I can slot 
 him in. I want to examine his arm again, if you can keep him 
 in the cast I should be able to finish the grafting and all 
 going well, set up phsyiso sessions for him.. The fact he 
 was moving his arm, fingers and all suggests he might regain 
 movement." 
 ��������"But wether he regains it without extreme pain when he 
 uses it is another question." 
 ��������"I'm afraid so." 
 ��������"Thank-you for coming." 
 ��������"Any time." 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������Meg sat on the edge of the bed and brushed Ray's hand 
 with her finger tips. His eyes opened to half mast, and 
 closed fast, his arm going up to cover his eyes. 
 ��������"Turn offff z'light, hurz.." 
 ��������Meg jumped to her feet, to cross the room in a hurry to 
 turn off the light. On returning to the bed, she laid a hand 
 on his leg. 
 ��������"It's off now. How are you feeling?" 
 ��������"Muz better now.. gave me a zot," he slurred, lowering 
 his arm. 
 ��������"So he said." 
 ��������"Zoo-pid..zoulda no bet-terrr." 
 ��������"I should have taken, I'm in pain in as a hint." 
 ��������"Not yourr f..ffault. All mmminne. Won' appen.. 'gain." 
 ��������"He's going to bring a new brace around to put your arm 
 in to make sure it doesn't happen." 
 ��������He had nothing to say about that and she gave him a 
 little poke. He rolled over and mumbled something totally 
 incomprehensible. She tugged the blankets up and leaned over 
 him, brushing his hair back and gave him a kiss on the 
 cheek. Sitting back, she watched him snuggling down and 
 settling into sleep. 
 ��������"If he comes to finish what he started, I will kill him 
 for what he did to you and Ben." 
 ��������"Zat's what he wants," Ray muttered in his sleep. 
 ��������Meg started and leaned closer. 
 ��������"Run that by me again and expand on it, please." 
 ��������"Wanz to die... No more pain.. Izn' the zuizidal type.. 
 He woulda killed himzelf.. after... he realized.. what he'd 
 done to Benni if he was.. In pain.. Benni zed so.. He doz'n 
 wanna live... wouldn't be.. so e-z to track.. if he waz'n 
 leaving trail..to find.. wanz to be caught, wanz to be 
 killed.. Wanz someone to put him out of hiz mizery." 
 ��������"When did you work that out?" 
 ��������"Larz night. Thaz whaz letterz abouz. Iz a taunt to 
 make uz react the way he wanz. I've done thiz and I done 
 that an I'm gonna keep doing it an you carn ztop me, nhah 
 nhah.." 
 ��������Meg leaned closer. 
 ��������"Do you think he wants to kill you, or just scare you 
 into giving him what he wants." 
 ��������"Both..Either.. one or the otherrr. Doz'n matter.. Hez 
 coming zoon." 
 ��������"How soon?" 
 ��������"Two left..onza liz.. Arz them.. zend records.. Narzy 
 zonz of bitchez. He will take them out.. He won't come.. 
 until they're dead.. And when they are.. He'll come... and 
 he'll do it.. in a way that gez attention.. zo I'll know hez 
 comin.. and be ready to defend myzelf." 
 ��������"I see.. I'm curious, what did Fraser want from you 
 tonight, what did he ask you to do?" 
 ��������"Wanzta go all the way.. With me.. Thaz good.. Never 
 tried to do that before. He never tried it with you..or did 
 he." 
 ��������"No, he hasn't." 
 ��������"Good zign.. great zign.. Hez not juz zaying one thing 
 and doin anozer.. Zed he truz uz.. and.. that proved it. You 
 should try..to zeduce him.. zee if he takez you up on it. If 
 he doz then hez ready for the next step." 
 ��������"You're not ready to go that far with him yet." 
 ��������"Don' know.. never.. done that.. juz learning.. thinz 
 az I go 'long.. Do to him.. what he doz to me.. that 
 workz.." 
 ��������"Tell me about the babies." 
 ��������"Zair boot-e-full..ador-e-bull..I can't believe zair 
 mine." 
 ��������"They are." 
 ��������"Yez... Keep.. pinching myzelf.. I wanned zem to be 
 mine.. zo bad.." 
 ��������"Why?" 
 ��������"Cauz I wanna be a daddy.. Gonna be the bezt far-zer 
 any kid ever had." 
 ��������"That's why you *really* wanted the to be yours. There 
 was no other reason?" 
 ��������"Juz one.. babiz would..be a reazon to..ztay togzer.. 
 when Benni got better.. I mizzed tha zo muz.. You were 
 alwayz zic.. zo I ztudied..hard inztead.. never even tried.. 
 to get my noz outta my bookz.. thought.. it waz over.. " 
 ��������She leaned over him, stroking his hair and placed a 
 soft kiss near his ear. 
 ��������"Once or twice I thought of putting on my naughtiest 
 lingerie, getting my cuffs, luring you away from your books, 
 to cuff you to the bed and have my wicked way with you," she 
 said and watched him give a sleepy smile. 
 ��������"Actually, it was a lot more than once or twice.. I 
 thought about doing it a lot." 
 ��������His smile grew wider. 
 ��������"I even got Fraser into his uniform once.. He was like 
 a little puppy, so excited about the idea." 
 ��������"Zo what happened?" 
 ��������"I sent him in to lure you out.. But all you did was 
 say that's nice Benni.. Do you mind, I've got 3 assignments 
 and I have to get this finished tonight." 
 ��������"Oppz." 
 ��������The sound of people in the nursery caught her 
 attention. One of the voices she heard was Lieutenant 
 Welsh's. He wanted to get his hands on Ray's copy of the 
 McIntire letter." 
 ��������"3rd CD, from the left zecond shelff to tha right. 
 Soundwave." 
 ��������She frowned trying to work out what he was talking 
 about then realised he must have heard Welsh talking. She 
 couldn't work out what it meant, but it was sure to have 
 something to do with it. 
 ��������"I have to go.. But I have one last question." 
 ��������"Mhhm." 
 ��������"You were studying the Pearen case file too.. Did you 
 come to any conclusions on that case?" 
 
 ���������������� *~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 �������� 
 ��������Meg found Welsh closing the drawer of the mobile file 
 cabinet and looking irritated when she entered the office. 
 ��������"Do you have a key?" 
 ��������"Of course I have a key. I have two, the master and the 
 spare. Do you know where he put that letter?"" 
 ��������"No." 
 ��������"It must be in the file room, do you know where he put 
 the key card?" 
 ��������"No.. Wait.." 
 ��������She moved to the computer, looked to the right, and 
 pulled the 3rd cd from the left out and opened it. All it 
 contained was a CD. She pulled the booklet out and the key 
 card slipped out onto the desk. 
 ��������"One key card," she said picking it up. 
 ��������"I don't suppose he told you the code too?" 
 ��������She walked over to the file room, pushed the fake light 
 switch aside and slipped the card in, tapping in the name 
 Soundwave. The light turned from red to green and she heard 
 a beep and a click. Welsh moved in pulling out his keys and 
 opened the door, to enter the room. 
 ��������"Did you interrogate the Doctor?" 
 ��������"Of course." 
 ��������"Whatever he gave Raymond to put him to sleep would 
 make a wonderful interrogation tool," Meg commented as Welsh 
 found the I file drawer and opened it to find a lone file 
 there. 
 ��������"What makes you say that?" 
 ��������"He's talking in his sleep. Quite intelligently I might 
 add, if a little slurred. He heard your voice and told me 
 where to find the key card and the code." 
 ��������"Ah." 
 ��������"I asked him about the Pearen case.." 
 ��������Welsh closed the drawer looking around. 
 ��������"What did he have to say about it?" 
 ��������"In his opinion, and he did say he could be wrong, 
 there were two killers, one is the second victim, the other 
 is the child you've been trying so hard to get to talk about 
 what happened.." 
 ��������"What?!" 
 ��������"The couple had a fight, one of them picked up a knife, 
 probably the wife, to fend her husband off. He got the knife 
 off her and stabbed her several times, in the heat of the 
 moment, the child came to his mother's defence, too late. In 
 a frenzy of fury the boy kills his father. When he realises 
 what he's done, he goes into traumatic shock. That's why 
 there's no sign of forced entry, no apparent motive, no 
 enemies, no theft. It also explains why the majority of the 
 wounds are to the lower body. Once he got started, he went 
 berserk, that's why there are so many stab wounds. According 
 to the records you gave him. The couple had a history. The 
 husband was charged with spousal abuse several times, but 
 the charges were always dropped. Child abuse, physical not 
 sexual was suspected, but not proven." 
 ��������Welsh turned and hunted down the P file drawer 
 unlocking and opening it to pull out the lone file there. 
 
 ����������������*~~~~~~~~~~*ooOO0=@=0OOoo*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������������������������������Part Twenty Two 
 
 �������������������������������� ooOO0=@=0OOoo�������� 
 
 ��������Ray slept through the day, and the return of the Doctor 
 who placed his arm in the cast like brace that would 
 immobilise his arm from the shoulder to the fingers. He also 
 slept through the return of Lieutenant Welsh, 3 feeding's, 
 numerous turns at diaper duty, the bathing of the babies, 
 and the fruitless seduction of Fraser by Meg after Frannie 
 departed with the Doctor for a night on the town and Mrs 
 Vecchio volunteered to watch the little bambino's for a 
 time, while they "caught up on their sleep". 
 ��������He awoke to find he had company in the bed, the kind of 
 company that snuggled up next to him, on either side. His 
 movements woke them up, and they put a smile on his face. A 
 very big smile. 
 ��������Around nine he slipped out of the bedroom and into the 
 bathroom to shower and shave. Passing through the master 
 bedroom again on his way to the nursery Ray found them 
 contently sleeping each other's arms. He found six bottles 
 in the warmer in the baby care room, along with a pile of 
 freshly cleaned diapers. He then began inspecting each of 
 the triplets onto to find they were in no need of 
 immediate attention. 
 ��������He spent half an hour simply admiring and occasionally 
 stroking his instant family before his grumbling stomach 
 reminded him that it had been some time since he'd eaten and 
 he went off in search of food. 
 ��������In the kitchen he found a note on the refrigerator door 
 from his mother, telling him his dinner was in the ice box 
 and an envelope with his name on it. Investigating the 
 refrigerator he found a meal she left for him and into the 
 microwave it went. He pulled out the milk and made himself a 
 cup of coffee, carrying it and the envelope to the island 
 bench, returning to the micro wave to fetch his meal and a 
 fork to eat it with. 
 ��������In between mouthfuls he opened the envelope to find a 
 copy of memo from the Commissioner to Welsh. It was short 
 and sweet and confused the hell out of him. 
 ��������Pearen case closed. You were right. He is too good to 
 be wasted. Inform Vecchio, his post is secure for the next 
 six months under agreed terms - with room for negotiations, 
 re: our discussion. 
 �������� -I don't get it. I didn't do anything. How did they 
 close the case? Why does he think it was me? and what 
 negotiations is he talking about?- 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"You talk in your sleep," Meg said when he showed her 
 the letter and asked if she knew what it was about. 
 ��������"I do?" 
 ��������"I've been hearing you do it since we started 
 cohabiting." 
 ��������"Oh." 
 ��������"I'm looking forward to seeing if I can have an 
 intelligent conversation with you while you're sleeping 
 again or wether that was just a once off fluke." 
 ��������"What were you doing? Interrogating me in my sleep?" 
 ��������"Yes." 
 ��������He stared at her and she handed him a cup of coffee. 
 ��������"Go back to work. You've got two more cases to work 
 on." 
 ��������"One really." 
 ��������"Oh?" 
 ��������"The other one is Dante's. I'm supposed to write up a 
 profile on him." 
 ��������"Well, I suggest you get started on it. You've got 
 everything you need now." 
 ��������Ray nodded heading for the office. 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������One week became two during which Ray cleared away the 
 second case he'd been given and written up the requested 
 profile on Dante and resumed his studies. Meg convinced him 
 to keep the cast/brace on the whole time. 
 ��������On the third week Paul arrived to drag him off to the 
 hospital, put him out and went to work on his arm. He 
 returned home with his arm in pressure bandages encased in 
 the special brace for safety's sake. 
 ��������He spent the next month trying to pretend he wasn't 
 worried about how the final operation went. He had other 
 things to concentrate one. He was handed four more cases to 
 work on, called out to talk 3 leapers from splattering 
 themselves on side walks, there were also 6 hostage 
 situations where he was called in. Two of the bank job gone 
 wrong type, four of the Husband's gone nuts and threatened 
 to torch/shoot/knife/kill the wife and/or kids type. On top 
 of that he had his studies to take care of, Fraser's 
 counselling sessions, which were going extremely well, and 
 despite the best efforts of Fraser, Meg, his mother and 
 sister, there were times he played devoted daddy to the 
 triples to the exclusion of all else. 
 ��������The quartet gave up trying to keep him from taking a 
 hands on approach to father hood and Meg had a wicked idea 
 that she put into action. 
 ��������Ray walked into the nursery hearing gurgling coming 
 from a cradle and wandered to the partitioned section that 
 contained the apple of his eye, Francesca junior. A few 
 second later he burst out laughing. Meg & Fraser poked their 
 heads into the room. 
 ��������Ray reached into the cradle, and pulled Francesca Jnr 
 out of the cradle, with one hand, using the cleverly 
 designed strap and brace system with a handle on it that had 
 been strapped into place over her bright'n'colourful 
 jumpsuit. 
 ��������Looking around as he transferred Francesca Jnr to his 
 shoulder he spied Meg and Fraser. 
 ��������"Who's bright idea was the baby handle?" 
 ��������Meg's hand went up, then she entered the room, with 
 Fraser on her heels. 
 ��������"You're the one who insists on having a hands on part 
 of their upbringing. It will make things easier for you to 
 do it." 
 ��������"Where did you get it?" 
 ��������"Oh. I rang several disability support centers, who put 
 me in touch with manufacturers of aides for people who loose 
 the use of one arm, either due to a stroke or amputation. 
 Most of them hung up on me when I told them what I wanted. 
 But the last one laughed, asked if was serious and told me 
 to bring a baby in. It was designed with padded straps so it 
 won't harm the baby and the handle band is fixed with a 
 rotation frame so that the handle will move around as the 
 babies roll around. That's what the padded belt around her 
 middle is for." 
 ��������Ray examined it more closely while Francesca Jnr 
 grabbed a handful of his hair and started gumming it. 
 ��������"This is great.. How long will it last?" 
 ��������"The straps are adjustable. He said that unless they 
 become fat little dumplings it should last until they're 
 about 12 months.. When we'd have to bring one in to be 
 measured up for a new set.." 
 
 ������������������������*~~~~~~~~~~*=@=*~~~~~~~~~~* 
 
 ��������"It's enough to make you wonder how they ever conceived 
 the Bambino's in the first place," Mrs Vecchio almost wailed 
 to her friend over the phone. 
 ��������Meg heard her voice, and her words from the corridor 
 she had been traversing on her way to the nursery. As she 
 realised Mrs Vecchio was talking about her and Ray she 
 changed direction to approach the lounge room door way and 
 plastered herself to the wall beside it. 
 ��������"It's no wonder he buries himself in his work, she does 
 nothing to make herself attractive for him... I think it is 
 a blessing that she had triplets, because the way things 
 stand I doubt she'd ever lure him away from his work and 
 back to the bedroom to add to their little clan." 
 ��������{Hmmph} 
 
 ��������������������������������*~~~~~~>{*}{*}D 
 

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