Revenge Canadian Style  

 Hello fellow Dief subscribers. This is my first post to Dief, it's a Due
South and X files crossover, very lighthearted and rated 'G'. Comments,
chocolate, mounties....all greatly appreciated. (!) The usual disclaimers
apply. 


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 Revenge Canadian Style.  

 Copyright Helen Hart, October 1996. 

 Ray Vecchio sat at his desk and mentally reviewed every curse and every
filthy word he knew. He hated paperwork with a passion, and wished the
Department budget would run to a personal secretary for detectives. 

 Happily fantasising about the `qualificatons' of the perfect secretary -
blonde or brunette? - his thoughts were interrupted by the sight of two
FBI types walking into the bullpen and making their way to Welsh's office.
Every cop could smell a Fed at 50 paces and Ray hated them almost as much
as paperwork. 

 "Hey. What did you want to see me for?" 

 Startled, Ray snapped his head around to find Francesca standing beside
his desk, tapping her foot impatiently. 

 "What are you doing here?" he asked warily. He never knew what Frannie
would do next. "Fraser isn't here, I haven't seen him in two days. He's
been busy." 

 Francesca rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Ray. Lieutenant Welsh called me
to come here. So what do you want?, and make it snappy, I'm in a rush." 

 "The Lieutenant called you?" snorted Ray, "Yeah, pull the other one,
Frannie. It whistles `Dixie'. Now you get out of here, *I'm* busy."
Francesca was about to lay into him when Welsh leaned out of his office
door and called them over. 

 "Detective. Miss Vecchio. Please step inside my office." he instructed.
He beckoned to Huey and Elaine as well. 

 They had all just reached his office when Inspector Thatcher came
swinging through the precinct doors. Ray held back untill she caught up,
then grabbed her elbow. 

 "What are you doing here, Inspector?" 

 "I was called by Lieutenant Welsh on behalf of the FBI. Apparently about
Fraser, what the hell has he been up to this time?" she hissed under her
breath. Ray waved his hands vaguely to placate her. 

 "I dunno. Honestly. I haven't seen Benny in two days. He said he would be
busy so I just assumed you had a massive run of laundry for him to get
through." 

 The female Mountie frowned. 

 "No. Fraser called in sick for these last two days. I thought he was with
you." Ray shook his head and closed the door behind them as they passed
through into the office. 

 The little room was rather crowded. Welsh sat behind his desk which had a
small TV and VCR perched on a corner. One of the FBI agents looked them
all over and then introduced himself. 

 "I am Director Skinner of the FBI. You have all been requested to view a
pre-recorded message. Just to check everyone is here, please give me you
names." 

 The Lieutenant spoke up first, "Harding Welsh." 

 "Jack Huey." 

 "Elaine Besbriss." 

 "Fox Mulder." 

 "Ray Vecchio." 

 "Margaret Thatcher." 

 "Francesca Vecchio." 

 Skinner smiled briefly. "Good. All here. We'll start now." He turned and
put a video cassette into the VCR and turned on the TV set. Agent Mulder
interrupted. 

 "This is what you dragged me here from D.C. under a gag order for? Who
are these people and why the hell aren't you taking Scully's disappearence
seriously? She's been gone for two days and I've heard three conflicting
stories as to how she's explained her absence before she left." 

 "Two days?" butted in Thatcher, "My Constable has been gone for two
days..." Ray chipped in. "Yeah, and we both got different excuses from him
too. And why the hell is my sister here?" 

 Francesca glowered at him. How like Ray to try and get her chucked out
just when things got interesting. These FBI guy's looked pretty good, and
she wasn't about to leave if this involved Fraser. 

 Skinner gestured for quiet and gave Mulder a quelling stare. "This will
explain everything." he promised, and pressed PLAY. 

 The screen snapped on to show fuzzy green. This resolved into a green
sweater, worn by a woman who was backing away from the camera. She had
obviously been setting it up on a tripod, and the picture had the look of
a homevideo. 

 She sat on a couch directly in shot and crossed her legs. Ray was about
to say something impatient, sure she was pretty enough, curvy, red-headed,
big green eyes,* but this was not Benny*, when she spoke. 

 "I'm told there will be a few other people seeing this so I'll introduce
myself. I'm Dana Scully, up untill recently, of the FBI." 

 Mulder straightened abruptly, "What?" he snapped. 

 "No doubt," continued the attractive Dana Scully,"Mulder is having a fit
trying to figure out what's going on. I'm sorry, Mulder. I never meant for
this to happen this way, but it has, so......." she shrugged her shoulders
and trailed off. 

 "There's no simple way to explain this so I'll stick to the facts. I've
met someone. A wonderful someone, and we're getting married, but he's
Canadian, and I've decided to move with him to Canada. I'll become a
citizen eventually, so of course this means I'm no longer eligible to work
for the FBI. 

 So this is good-bye, Mulder. We're leaving about the time you'll see
this. I don't know when I'll see you next, I just wanted to take the
opportunity to say thank you. Both personally and professionally. It's
been a privilege working with you Mulder. I'll miss you." She took a deep
breath and smiled. A movement off camera caught her attention and the
smile changed into the kind of smile a woman gives her lover. 

 Jeans clad legs walked in front of the camera. They went forward to the
couch and then the rest of the body came into shot at the man sat down
next to Dana. It was Fraser. A collective gasp went up from the Chicagoans
in Welsh's office as the import of this sank in. Benton handed Dana a mug,
which she took in one hand to sip from and left the other small white hand
resting lightly, but possessively, on his thigh. 

 Benton gave the camera one of his patented Mountie smiles. 

 "Hello Ray, " he began. Ray couldn't believe this was the same Benton
Fraser he knew, he looked so relaxed, so.....content? happy?
nah......*satiated*, yeah, satiated. What the hell had he been up to these
last two days, wondered Ray with a crude private grin, knowing the answer.
Frasers' presence on the video tape had had an electrifying effect on the
room. Huey had the same knowing grin as Ray, mixed with the same surprise,
but the three women - Elaine, Francesca and Thatcher - had expressions of
varying degrees of horror as they saw the couple before them. 

 And they sure did look like a couple, Ray had to admit. Besides Dana's
hand on Benton's thigh, his arm was around her shoulders and his fingers
were casually stroking the back of her neck. They looked at ease with each
other and they had a kind of glow to them. Way to go Benny, cheered Ray
silentlly, but why the rush? As if in reply, Benton resumed speaking. 

 "This may seem odd to you, and a little worrying, but don't worry please.
I'm fine. In fact," he broke off and grinned, "I'm great! Dana has already
given you an explaination. Basically we're going home - to my home - in
the territories. I've requested a transfer, you'll be happy to hear,
Inspector, and untill it is approved, Dana and I are going up North to
enjoy every possible day of accrued leave I can milk from the force."
Benton's grin was distinctly male by now, and Dana was blushing but
sporting a cat-got-the-cream smile of her own. 

 "I also wanted to take this opportunity to mention how much I've enjoyed
my time in Chicago. Lieutenant Welsh, Detective Huey, it was a pleasure to
know you. Elaine, I'm very glad we got to be friends, and Francesca, it
has been lovely knowing you, you're a wonderful person." 

 Elaine and Francesca looked like they had both just lost their mothers.
Shock and disbelief warred for supremacy on their faces, eventually they
both settled for miserable. Huey exchanged a look with Ray. "Wow." was all
he said. 

 Mulder was glaring at the the TV set as if it had whipped out an Uzi and
was threatening national security. He looked very unhappy and Ray wondered
passingly if he had been interested in the nice ex- Agent Scully in a not
so professional manner. 

 Inspector Thatcher had not moved throughout the revelations, but she
stiffened as her name was mentioned. 

 "Inspector Thatcher, you are a fine officer, and as Dana said of Mulder,
it has been a privilege serving with you." 

 Benton shifted slightly in his seat and cleared his throat. Dana snuggled
against his shoulder. 

 "Last, but not least. Ray. What can I possibly say? Your friendship has
meant a lot to me these last two years, but this is goodbye. I don't
envisage returning to Chicago ever again..." The tape audio was blotted
out by Francesca's moan of pain. "...I'll send you our address when we get
settled and I'd like to keep in contact very much. Well, that's all I've
got to say." Benton turned to the woman at his side. "You finished?" he
offered quietly. She nodded and smiled at the camera again. 

 "Good bye Mulder." she said warmly. Benton stood and his approaching form
blocked the camera's view untill the screen cut to static. 

 Silently, Skinner snapped off the TV set, Welsh raised his eyebrows in
amazement. Mulder looked stunned. "Scully?" he questioned dumbly. 

 "I don't believe it." snapped Thatcher suddenly, making everyone jump.
"It can't be true. He wouldn't go just like that, " she turned awkwardly
to Ray, "would he?" she finished on a not quite steady note. 

 Ray just shrugged. It was unsettling, but there it was. Actually, he was
a little peeved Benny hadn't said anything to him, he always came to Ray
for help with women. Except for the only one he had ever seemed to
actually get together with, at the end of which Ray
had......shot......him........Oh God. Ray sat numbly as the old guilt came
flooding back. No wonder he hadn't said anything, he probably thought Ray
was a jinx or something. Lost in his own misery, he ignored his sister who
was seated on the only chair in the room, clutching her stomach and
staring blankly at the TV screen looking shell shocked. 

 "I don't believe it." said Elaine dazedly, somehow capturing everyone's
feelings perfectly. 

 Stunned silence reigned for nearly a full minute. Skinner surveyed the
shocked faces before him with a small smile. He cleared his throat and
waited untill he had everyone's attention. 

 "Ladies and Gentlemen, you've all been had." he declared amusedly. Eye's
popping, they all stared at him, bewilderment swiftly turning to
suspicion. 

 "You can come in know." Skinner called out. 

 The office door opened and Dana Scully entered, escorted by Benton
Fraser. Scully smirked at Mulder, "This is justice." she pronounced with
relish. 

 Fraser just smiled, "Gotcha." was all he said. 

 The office erupted into cries of relief and accusation. 

 "You sonofabitch!" yelled Ray, wavering between delight and irritation. 

 "You really got me going! Man! I can't believe you did that!" 

 Welsh stood and shook both Scully and Fraser's hands, chuckling the whole
time. Huey thumped Fraser on the back in silent congratulations. Neither
Elaine nor Francesca trusted their voices so they both smiled with sickly
relief and tried to calm their pulses which had been racing with hatred
for the red headed Federal agent only seconds ago. Mulder had given
Scully's smirking face a long look before smiling sheepishly. 

 "I deserved that didn't I?" he acknowledged. Scully just nodded, not
trusting herself not to laugh out loud at the expressions before her. 

 Inspector Thatcher, barring a swiftly suppressed look of relief, had
remained stony faced throughout. 

 "Very amusing Constable. Your presence is required back at the Consulate.
Now." She smiled politely and shook hands with Skinner and Welsh, then
exited the office with suspicious alacrity. The remainder, excepting
Welsh, followed her example and dispersed back to their places around the
precinct room. 

 "What I want to know Scully," Mulder was saying, "is how you got Skinner
to go along with this." 

 Skinner looked at the maverick agent and smirked, not unlike Scully had
earlier. "You deserved it." he said as the three, plus Fraser and Ray drew
alongside the detectives desk. 

 "And what I wanna know is how the hell you came up with this!" demanded
Ray of Fraser. Thatcher (who hadn't seemed to be able to leave yet) and
the rest of the highly entertained crowd in the precinct room, who had
been bought up to date by Huey, pricked their ears and craned their necks
to hear. 

 Fraser gave an infentesimal shrug. 

 "Do you remember the convention the Inspector sent me on last month?" 

 "The Inter-agency co-operation thingy?" 

 "Yes, well, Dana and I met there and fell to talking. We decided this is
just what you all needed." 

 Ray shook his head in admiration. "You are some piece of work, Fraser.
You should get an Oscar for that, you really convinced me that you two
were so hot for each other you were gonna elope, or whatever." 

 "Yeah," added Mulder, "I can't believe I fell for that. I know you
Scully, you're too cautious and reserved to get that deep, that fast, with
a guy." The culprits made no comment. Dana held out her hand to the tall
Mountie for him to shake. 

 "It was a pleasure, Constable Fraser." she said. 

 Fraser took her hand and smiled down at the small woman. 

 "The pleasure was all mine, Agent Scully." he replied softly. He raised
her hand to his lips and kissed it lingeringly. Ray's eyebrows shot to his
receeding hairline in surprise. He wondered what Benny was leaving out of
this story. Thatcher, Francesca, Elaine, Huey, Welsh and the surrounding
police officers all wondered at the Mountie's uncharacteristic gesture as
well. They didn't wonder for long, however. Fraser had raised his head
from Dana's fingers and they had stepped into each others arms as smoothly
as if it had been choreographed. 

 The dark brown head lowered itself to the uptilted red head, and Benton
Fraser and Dana Scully proceeded to give new meaning to the phrase;
`InterAgency co-operation'. They kissed. Full on tonsil hockey. 

 The stunned silence was absolute. Forget a pin dropping - a nuclear bomb
could have gone off and not one person in that room would have twitched an
eyelash, so riveted, were they, to the steamy clinch before them. 

 By the time their lips had disengaged the room temperature had risen by
at least ten degree's. Surrounded by gaping jaws, Dana smoothed down
Fraser's red serge then her red hair. "Good bye Ben. If you're ever in
D.C......?" she smiled and walked calmly out of the room. Mulder gave
Fraser a wild look then stumbled after the woman he had thought he knew.
"Scully?" he could be heard calling plaintively as the doors swung closed
behind him. 

 Skinner shook Welsh's hand then left to follow his agents. Elaine sat
down with a thump. Gradually the precinct came to life and people drifted
back to work, shooting Fraser amazed glances. Ray and Francesca were left
floundering for words as Fraser turned to the dangerously red Thatcher. 

 "I believe I'm required back at the Consulate?" he inquired brightly. 

 Thatcher just stared at him. A glimmer of what may have been a smile
shimmered over Fraser's lips then disappeared. "I think I'll walk. It's a
lovely day." he said gravely. He put his hat squarely on his head and
exited the battlefield with dignity. 

 Stepping out into the warm sunshine, Fraser allowed himself to loose the
smile that had been threatening to show itself to Thatcher. The full force
of his handsome face beaming in slightly naughty victory caused three
women and one man to trip over their feet in wonder. Fraser didn't notice,
he was reviewing the expressions of his victims smugly. 

 "Revenge is sweet." he said aloud, and walked on. 

 ------------------------------------THE
END------------------------------------- 

 Helen Hart 

 HARTZ@p085.aone.net.au  Return to the Due South Fiction Archive