This story is set towards the end of Season 2 of due South. A huge 'Thank You Kindly' to my beta, Shadow2Serenity, whose insights into RayV's character and, in particular, help with some of his dialogue, have been invaluable.

CHAPTER 1.

"Fraser, thank god you're here."

Ray Vecchio bundled his best friend into the house and closed the door.

"What's the emergency, Ray?" asked Benton Fraser. "Mr Mustaffi said you sounded quite anxious on the telephone. I came here straight away."

"Yeah," agreed Ray, wringing his hands together with agitation. "You could say that. It's bad, Benny…it's…" He trailed off and glanced over his shoulder towards the dining room to make sure no one could hear him.

The door was shut, but Fraser could hear the overwhelming sounds of a typical Vecchio dinner going on in the room. Fraser had attended several family dinners at the Vecchio house and, apart from the odd argument between Ray and his sisters, nothing really bad ever happened. Certainly nothing that would have warranted Ray's desperate phonecall to his apartment building. "What is it? What's wrong?" He asked.

Ray sighed. "It's Frannie," he began. "She's got a new boyfriend."

"Oh," replied Fraser, flatly. The news had stunned him slightly. Not only because he couldn't imagine why Ray considered this was an emergency, but also because Fraser was somewhat confused about his own feelings towards Ray's youngest sister. Francesca Vecchio, like most women, frequently terrified Fraser by her presence alone, but Francesca had never made a secret of her feelings toward the Mountie. He'd first met her at a dinner not unlike the one it appeared was going on now and she was different to any woman he had encountered before. She was strong willed and not afraid to speak her mind and he admired that. She was also very pretty, with beautiful green eyes and soft, dark hair.

"And he's a creep," Ray continued. "Except, apparently, he's not."

"I'm sorry, Ray, I'm not sure I understand," said Fraser with a frown.

"Eddie Bartolo," said Ray. "Frannie's fallen head over heels for him and Ma invited him here for dinner tonight. So now you have to help me."

"Help you with what, exactly?" Fraser was still confused.

"To break them up!" exclaimed Ray, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "Jeez, Benny, this ain't complicated." Ray sighed. "Look, I've only met the guy a couple of times, but I just know he's gonna wind up breaking her heart. The guy's a sleazebag."

"I can't imagine Francesca becoming romantically entangled with someone so unpleasant," remarked Fraser.

"You never met her ex-husband," noted Ray dryly.

Fraser said nothing. Francesca's husband had been mentioned in his presence only once in passing and Fraser, although naturally curious, had not considered it was his place to ask for details. All that he had been able to glean was that the marriage was short lived and had ended badly.

"Besides, Eddie talks the talk, Benny," explained Ray with a scowl. "He's in there now on the charm offensive. Ma, Maria, even Tony, they're all falling for it."

"So you are alone amongst your family in your dislike for this man?" asked Fraser.

"Yes," nodded Ray. "But I'm right and they're wrong."

"And what exactly are you basing your judgement on?" asked Fraser.

"Instinct," replied Ray.

"I see."

"You don't believe me, do you," sighed Ray, hanging his head.

"Ray, with all due respect, I have not met Mr Bartolo yet, so I'm not really in a position to believe you, or not," replied Fraser.

Ray nodded sadly. That'd be right…

"However," continued Fraser. "I do trust your judgement and therefore I am quite willing to believe that you are correct."

A small smile flickered at the corners of Ray's mouth. "Thanks, Benny," he said.

At that moment the door to the kitchen flew open and Ray's mother appeared carrying a huge bowl of salad.

"Benton!" she exclaimed. "What a wonderful surprise! Are you joining us for dinner? There's plenty to go around."

"Well," Fraser glanced at Ray. He wasn't quite sure what his friend's plans were for the evening. Ray replied with an enthusiastic nod. "I'd be delighted, Mrs Vecchio," smiled Fraser.

"Bellisimo!" smiled Ma. She leaned in and kissed him on both cheeks. Then she turned and glared at her son. "Why did you not tell me Benton was coming?" Without waiting for an answer she carried the bowl of salad into the dining room.

"OK, now remember, this guy is gonna try to charm the pumpkin pants off you, Benny," said Ray. "Don't fall for it. OK?"

"I'll try not to, Ray."

Fraser followed his friend into the dining room. There were squeals of delight from almost everyone when they saw Fraser. Maria's children jumped out of their seats and were scolded by their mother to sit down. Tony stood up and shook Fraser's hand firmly and Francesca smiled coyly at him.

"Benton, this is Eddie," said Francesca. "Eddie Bartolo, Constable Benton Fraser."

Francesca studied Fraser's face for any hint of jealousy, a flash of envy in those beautiful blue eyes perhaps, but saw nothing. She smiled to herself. He's hiding it well…

Eddie was a good two inches taller than Fraser and from his muscular arms Fraser concluded that either he had a very physical job, or he spent a lot of time at the gym. His dark hair was perfectly coiffed and peppered with artificial blonde highlights and he sported stubble neatly trimmed into a goatee. His clothes were similar in quality to the Armani Ray favoured, Fraser noticed, but cut differently. Fraser knew little about designer clothing, but he assumed Eddie, like Ray, had expensive taste in fashion.

Fraser, of course, was wearing his full dress uniform and he carried his hat tucked firmly under his arm.

"You must be the Mountie," smiled Eddie, shaking Fraser warmly by the hand.

"Guy's a genius," muttered Ray, not quite under his breath.

Francesca glared at him.

"Please, everyone, eat!" commanded Ma and the assembled crowd dived into the food, passing bowls of pasta and salad and baskets of garlic bread up and down the table in a disorganised jumble that gave Fraser a headache. The children snatched at food with their hands and Tony piled his plate so high it appeared to defy the laws of gravity. Fraser waited until everyone else had served themselves before spooning a moderate helping of farfalle with chicken onto his plate.

Ray couldn't help but smile at his friend. Fraser was going to have to get used to eating at the Vecchios one day, but apparently today was not that day.

"This is delicious, Mrs Vecchio," smiled Fraser and Ma blushed at the praise.

"Eddie is a photographer," said Francesca suddenly.

"I see," said Fraser. He felt as if he should apologise for his lack of manners in not having talked to Eddie very much so far, but small talk was not his strong point at the best of times and he wasn't quite sure what Ray wanted him to say anyway. He had thought it best just to eat and observe.

"We met at the Di Vita offices, you know, the lifestyle magazine," continued Francesca. "I was delivering sandwiches."

"I was waiting to see the editor about a photoshoot when I looked up and saw a beautiful vision," smiled Eddie, turning to beam at Francesca.

Francesca blushed and squeezed his hand affectionately.

"So I bought a sandwich, even though I'd already had lunch," continued Eddie. "And, well, to cut a long story short, here we are."

"Here we are indeed," muttered Ray and he shovelled a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

This time Eddie heard him and he glanced at Fraser and shrugged. Fraser's face remained neutral.

"Hey, Eddie, tell Fraser about staying at Robert Redford's house," shouted Tony from the other end of the table.

Ray threw his head back and rolled his eyes.

"It's not as glamourous as it sounds," said Eddie trying to play it down. "I was doing a shoot for a magazine at Robert Redford's mansion in Bel Air and there was a big storm so Redford invited me to stay the night. I barely saw the man, it's not like we sat up playing poker into the early hours. I mostly dealt with his housekeeper."

"But still, hey, Robert Redford!" exclaimed Tony. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Very," nodded Fraser unconvincingly.

"I loved him in The Sting," said Ma with a smile.

"Out of Africa," added Maria.

The meal and the conversation continued jovially. Tony opened a bottle of wine and Ma brought out a huge Tiramisu and a box of chocolates. At Tony's request Eddie told a few more stories about his work which had taken him all over the world. Francesca argued with Maria over who was the best looking between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, both of whom Eddie told them he had met.

Fraser mostly kept quiet, but not as quiet as Ray. Maria's boys were making enough noise between them that her brother's silence went almost unnoticed. Almost. Fraser noticed, of course, but Francesca noticed it too and Fraser could see the sadness in her eyes as the realisation that her brother did not care for the new man in her life.

Fraser observed his friend with concern. Although one meal together was no real test of a person's personality, so far Eddie had done nothing to suggest to Fraser that he was the monster Ray seemed to think he was. He laughed at Tony's jokes, entertained the children with magic tricks and had table manners any Mountie would be proud of. Most of all anyone could see from the warm, loving smile on Francesca's face how happy she was. Her eyes lit up when he spoke and she couldn't keep her hands off him.

"More tiramisu, Raymondo?" asked Ma, passing the glass bowl to Tony, who passed it to Fraser, who held it in front of Ray for a moment, before placing it on the table in front of his friend when he realised Ray wasn't going to take it. "I know how much you love my tiramisu," added Ma.

Ray peered at the half eaten dessert and then looked across the table at his sister, who had her arm draped around Eddie's shoulders. "No thanks, Ma," he said with a sneer. "I don't think I can stomach anything else."

"Ray," began Eddie, gently pushing Francesca's arm away.

The hairs on the back of Fraser's neck stood on end. He'd been concerned for a while that Eddie would eventually tire of Ray's jibes and was hoping there wouldn't be any confrontation. Apparently his hopes were about to be dashed.

"What?" snapped Ray. "Something you wanna say to me, Eddie?"

"Eddie, no," said Francesca in a low voice, but her new beau ignored her. Desperately she looked at her brother with pleading eyes. "Ray, please," she began.

Why does he have to do this now?

Francesca had realised the first time she'd introduced Eddie to her brother that the two of them were never going to be best friends, but she'd hoped Ray could at least be civil. Ray was always instinctively untrusting towards any new boyfriend she brought home, which is why she hadn't brought a guy home for a long time, but she thought it might be different with Eddie. She hadn't felt like this about a man for years and she was so happy that her mother and sister liked him, but Ray had made his feelings known right from the start and now it looked like he was about to boil over.

Eddie got to his feet and opened his mouth to speak, but before he had chance to get any words out there was a commotion from the other end of the table. Young Fabio had been eating chocolates and now had his hands clutched around his throat and was making a terrible choking noise.

"Fabio!" exclaimed Maria as her son's face turned bright red. She grabbed at his shoulders and looked panic stricken at Tony, who was frozen in terror.

In a split second, Fraser was on his feet. He darted around to the other side of the table, but before he could help Fabio, Eddie had the little boy on his knee. Francesca covered her mouth with her hands as Eddie grasped Fabio around the middle and with one swift upward thrust and an accompanying slap on the back the offending hazelnut whirl came flying out of the child's mouth and across the table.

Fabio gasped in a breath of air and his lips, which had started to go blue, swiftly returned to their normal colour. Maria swept the boy up into her arms and hugged him tightly, weeping with relief.

Tony pushed past them and took Eddie's hand in his, shaking it vigorously. "Thank you," he said.

Eddie, for his part, looked slightly stunned. "I…I…" he stammered.

Maria looked over to him. "Thank you isn't enough," she said, her face wet with tears. She glanced at Fraser and handed her son to him. Then she threw her arms around Eddie. "You saved his life," she said. "You saved my boy."

Fraser sat Fabio on the edge of the table. The young boy couldn't quite take in what had happened and he looked dazed. "You alright, son?" asked Fraser gently and Fabio nodded.

Fraser glanced across the table to see Ray with his arm around his terrified mother. His mother's arm, in turn, was wrapped tightly around Fabio's older brother, Giovanni. The three of them had stood like that and watched the drama unfold. It had all happened so fast. Now Ray's face was cold and tense and his eyes were trained on Eddie.

Fraser quickly checked young Fabio to make sure his breathing had returned to normal. There appeared to be no residual effects of the choking episode. "He's fine," he announced and Tony shook the Mountie's hand warmly, before lifting his son into his arms.

"Ray," Fraser tried to attract his friend's attention, but Ray didn't hear him. Ma walked around the table to join the rest of her family in thanking Eddie and hugging Fabio, but Ray appeared to be frozen like a statue. "Ray," Fraser tried again.

This time Ray did hear him, but he could only respond with a sneer. At Fraser's puzzled look, Ray shook his head and stormed out of the dining room, slamming the door behind him.

Fraser glanced awkwardly at the rest of the Vecchios, but they were all still too wrapped up with what had just happened to have noticed Ray had even left the room, let alone the manner of his departure. "Excuse me," Fraser said to Tony and squeezed past Ray's brother in law.

He found Ray standing outside in the hallway, leaning with one shoulder against the wall and his head slumped forward. "Ray?" he said, gingerly.

"Leave me alone, Benny," replied Ray quietly. "Just go back in there with the rest of the Eddie Bartolo fan club."

Fraser hesitated. He couldn't understand Ray's reaction at all. "He did just save Fabio's life," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I noticed," replied Ray, lifting his head just enough to make eye contact with his friend. "What a hero," he added sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Ray," said Fraser, scratching his left eyebrow with his thumbnail, "but I'm having some difficulty understanding your position."

"My position?" Ray straightened and stared at his friend. "My position, Benny, is that I seem to be the only one who can see this guy for who he really his. And now he saves the lives of small children, might as well just beatify the guy right now. I'll go polish a halo."

Fraser folded his arms across his chest and considered his friend. "I'm not doubting your instincts, Ray, but…" he began.

"But…but you think I'm wrong about him too," Ray interrupted him. "Couldn't you have just gotten to Fabio sooner? You were right there, Benny, right there. Why did you have to let him be the one to save the kid's life?"

"I'm… I'm sorry, Ray, but I was on the other side of the table," began Fraser. "I was almost there, those extra seconds might have made all the difference."

"Forget I said that," sighed Ray. "This isn't your fault." Ray opened the cupboard under the stairs. He pulled out a long, brown overcoat and put it on. "You coming?" he asked.

"Um," Fraser glanced over his shoulder at the dining room door. "Where, exactly?"

"Anywhere that's not here," replied Ray picking up his car keys and opening the front door.

"Um, er," stammered Fraser. "It would be impolite to simply leave without saying goodbye when your mother kindly invited me for dinner," he said. "I'll just go and, er…" he trailed off and glanced, again, towards the dining room. He could still hear raised voices and general commotion coming from the other side. "I should probably, um…"

"You know what, Benny," said Ray sadly. "I think I'd rather be alone."

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