Behind Closed Doors	  Behind Closed Doors by Adalisa

 Author's webpage: http://members.tripod.com/luxshine/

  

 Behind Closed Doors
 By: Adalisa Zrate 

 "It's closed!" 

 "I know it's closed. He closed it, remember?" 

 "Well, I had to try, okay? I mean... it's just a closet door... What did
he do? Barricade it?" 

 "Probably. We know he won't open it. Why waste our energy? You should
know by now that's impossible to argue with him once he gets an idea under
that stupid hat. We'll probably die in here, before he decides to let us
out." Ray Vecchio shifted in his place, trying to avoid the broom resting
in the wall. The light inside the small closet was too dim to see his
unwilling companion, which was fine with him. All they needed to do was
wait until Fraser came to his senses and let them out. It wouldn't do him
any good to start watching his new partner too intensely. He knew too well
that nothing would come out of it. 

 On the other side of the very small room, Ray Kowalski was debating with
himself as to whether he should sit or stand. He didn't have too much room
to maneuver without bumping with the other cop... The man that had been
the star of his dreams since they began to work together... Kowalski
sighed. He needed to get out of there before he embarrassed himself. "Any
chance that someone else will hear us and open the damn door?" 

 "Knowing Fraser, he probably left Dief outside the closet." Ray's voice
sounded hopeless. "Probably the whole Precinct knows why he locked us
here... And even if they don't... well... normally no one bothers us when
we discuss a case here." 

 "Oh...yeah... The closet thing. I've heard the rumors..." Ray regretted
the words as soon as they came out his mouth. He really needed to get out.


 "Rumors? What Rumors? What are you talking about??" Ray's eyes were very
wide. Why was Kowalski interested in rumors about him? 

 "Nothing... Nothing, calm down..." The blonde cop backed up, sitting in
his corner of the closet. He had heard a lot of things about Vecchio and
Fraser before taking up the assignment of replacing the other cop's life;
but in that particular moment, he didn't want to discuss them with the
volatile Italian. That would be the end of the glimmer of hope he had. So
instead, he tried to maintain his annoyed tone and change the subject.
"Why do you think Fraser did it? I mean, lock us up in here..." 

 "It's his weird Canadian way of telling us he's tired of our fights, and
that we have to work out whatever it is what makes us want to strangle
each other. " Ray groaned. The one thing he had never explained during the
debriefing sessions was that he and Fraser had had their most deep
soul-searching conversations while locked up in the weirdest places.
Obviously, the Mountie thought that he and Kowalski would talk better
under the same circumstances. What the Mountie didn't know was that Ray
knew exactly why he wanted to strangle the other man. He had a very bad
case of unrequited lust for said other man. "At least this time he is not
flooding the place like he did in the bank." 

 "Work what out? There's nothing to discuss." Nothing you want to hear
thought Kowalski and closed his eyes. 

 "Exactly. Now... What rumors where you talking about?" As soon as Ray
said the words, he had to repress a laugh just looking at the other man's
face, eyes open again in shock. This was turning very intriguing. 

 Ray looked at the man across the room, his shock and surprise barely
hidden by the darkness. If he let the silence drag on, he would have to
explain what he heard, and what he thought... what he wanted... And he
wouldn't be able to face the consequences. "Even if there is some tension
between us... It's your fault! You are always complaining about me or my
taste in clothing, cars or anything!" 

 "I wouldn't complain if you hadn't ruined my life!" *Or if they didn't
drive me nuts* Ray silently added. The truth was very simple for him. The
only reason he had to constantly nag Kowalski was to avoid blurting out
something he shouldn't. 

 "Your life was already ruined! No one told me about what I was going to
face coming up here!" 

 "At least I never had to ask for protection in the Consulate! Or throw
the Riv in Lake Michigan!!" He still was very angry for the loss of his
beloved car. 

 "What's the matter? Wanted to do it yourself? You blew two Rivieras
before I came in! And I was trying to save my life!" 

 "You could have been more careful! I still haven't been able to find a
new one!!" 

 "You found two, a third one shouldn't be that hard to find for you... You
can always drag it from the Lake and try to restore it... Not like my
wife." Ray spat the last words with genuine anger. It hurt him too much
every time he saw Stella walking in the direction of their desks, knowing
that she only had eyes for Vecchio. Only that lately, he was starting to
feel hurt that Vecchio only had eyes for her. 

 "I didn't steal your wife, you were divorced when I meet her... and
anyway, I'm not seeing her anymore." 

 "What?!" Both men were standing now, almost touching in the dark space of
the closet. Suddenly, Ray seemed to notice that fact and sat again in his
place, carefully placing the broom away from his back. 

 "It's over between us. She's getting a new job in New York, so you don't
have anything to complain about now." 

 "But... you never... I mean... She... and you..." Ray couldn't continue.
He remembered how he had felt the first days after he and Stella divorced.
Looking at the Italian cop's face, he couldn't find any sign of the
sadness that had plagued his thoughts then. Now, the other man's complains
about the final fate of the green car seemed more unfair. After all, Ray
hadn't torched it himself. He wasn't the idiot his forced partner seemed
to think he was... And then there was the fact that the American Italian
man, whose sex life was subject of most of the Precinct's gossip, had
conquered Stella in much less time than he... And that he had the most
gorgeous green eyes Ray had ever seen. 

 "Now I know that the rumors aren't about me and Stella... So speak up,
'Spiky'" Ray smile turned into a grin, pulling Ray out of his thoughts.
Suddenly, the small space seemed very warm, and it wasn't because of their
constant yelling. He sat on a box near the wall, wishing for the earth to
swallow him. 

 "I don't know what you're talking about..." *That's it Kowalski, keep
yourself on denial and change the subject fast* "And anyway you should
stop whining about that car. After all, I risked my neck for you a
thousand times while you were in Las Vegas!" 

 "...And nearly destroyed my cover while doing so!!"   * *  

 Outside the closet, Benton Fraser waited to the yelling to stop. He
couldn't hear the whole conversation, and only picked up the most loud
parts. He hoped that both cops would run out of steam soon. It hadn't been
long since his arrival in the Precinct before he found Ray and Ray
fighting once again over some small thing. Basically, it was the last
strain to Benton's patience, so he grabbed both men, dragged them across
the bull-pen and threw them in the closet, closing the door. That had been
30 minutes ago, and things hadn't improved. They sounded calm for seconds,
then started discussing again, increasing the volume with each word. Then
they were silent and the cycle began again. 

 Sighing, he mouthed a silent instruction to Dief telling him to stay, and
walked towards Lt. Welsh's office. It was going to be some time before he
could open that door.	* *  

 Inside, the shouting had grown subdued once more, as Ray grew curious on
the subject his name-sake was trying to avoid. 

 "We have already shouted about everything we have to shout about... Are
you going to tell me what are those rumors you heard about me or we begin
the fight again?" 

 "You don't want to hear them." Ray was at a loss. He had used all the
ideas that came to his mind on how to avoid this conversation. It was very
hard to think when he had been dreaming on finding himself in the same
situation. It was worse since he knew he couldn't tell him the truth. If
he did, Vecchio's yelling would be the last of his worries. And as he
debated about how to melt inside the wall, the other man began to speak in
a very mischievous tone. 

 "If they are about me and female federal agents, they're lies. Nothing
happened between us. Or between Anita Cortez and me, or with Louise. My
love life isn't as active as I would want it to be." The American Italian
cop was studying Ray with his eyes, and the other man suppressed a shiver.
Those weren't the rumors he had heard, but were too close to comfort. "
Now... if it's something about me and Benny..." Ray gulped, feeling
impossibly guilty as the other man continued. "... you should know by now
that he is straight." 

 The blonde man gaped at the neutral tone of the other man. He would have
never believed that Raymond Vecchio would take the fact that his
co-workers thought he was gay with such calm... That almost made him
believe he had a chance... And of course he knew that Fraser wasn't gay...
he knew it right after the Mountie had saved him from drowning with a
weird technique of buddy breathing. Remembering that, he blushed, and
tried to look anywhere except in Ray's direction. He couldn't get rid of
the image of Ray kissing him, a constant one in his dreams... And he was
sure he had it all written on his face. At the same time, the Italian cop
smiled. He knew why he felt jumpy around Kowalski, and now he realized
that the other man felt the same thing. 

 A hand in his cheek brought Kowalski back to reality. Ray was kneeling in
front of him and before he could say anything, he found himself kissed
thoroughly by the other man. And his shocked mind only could think about
how they where to explain this if the door were to be open in that
moment.. 

 A few seconds later, Ray pulled away, and his tongue darted out to lick
his very kissable lips. In those deep green eyes, Ray could read a
question, and, unable to voice his answer, he plastered Ray's body against
the other wall, kissing him with the same intensity as the other man had
used before. 

 As the kiss deepened, Ray moaned as he felt hands traveling up his back,
pulling his silk shirt up. Working on instinct, Ray opened the shirt and
began to tease his nipples. At the same time, he could feel Ray nibbling
on his neck and a wave of desire swept through his body. 

 Soon, both detectives' pants were entangled in the floor, their shirts
open and pushed upwards, their mouths locked and their groins joined,
moving in a frenzied rhythm. Ray moaned softly as he felt the other man's
tongue over his lips, as a gentle caress.. 

 A passionate kiss silenced the noises that came out of his throat as he
felt a hand over his heated cock, as it was stroked and caressed, and just
when he thought that he couldn't take more of it, the voracious mouth let
him go. Before he could voice a complain, he was completely engulfed by
the same voracious mouth and all coherent thoughts fled from his mind, as
the hot, wet mouth worked his magic on him.   * *  

 After fifteen minutes of continuous silence, Fraser finally opened the
door. He found his two friends glaring at each other, silently. They
didn't look very friendly at the moment. Maybe it was the strong smell of
closed air. Six hours inside the closet without proper ventilation weren't
healthy after all. 

 Both Rays didn't look as if they had solved their differences; but at
least, they weren't yelling anymore. Actually, the yelling had started to
decline after Fraser returned from his first trip to Lt. Welsh' office,
and later had stopped completely. It wasn't much, but it was a beginning. 

 They didn't talk much in the afternoon, which was a good sign. It was the
first time where the two didn't spend all their time fighting. Fraser
smiled. He had to return to the consulate, and Ray promised him that he
would be on time to give him a ride, as soon as he and Kowalski finished
the paperwork of their latest case. Fraser thought that his blonde friend
was blushing a little, but didn't pay much attention to that fact as he
was leaving. As he crossed the doors, he caught Ray's voice. 

 "Later, if you have time... we can double check this in your apartment." 

 "Sure... I'll get the... files ready..." 

 Fraser smile grew. Now he was sure that the time they had spent in the
closet wouldn't be lost... Maybe in a short time they would be great
friends. 

 End-