Benton Fraser was standing guard outside the consulate in the peaceful mid-spring sunlight, the afternoon after one of his 'trips' with Ray which as per usual had somewhat annoyed the Inspector, well no to be fair it had not only annoyed her but had gotten her to re-plan his sudden move to Russia again, something which he thought she had forgotten a long time ago. He had tried to 'help' again but in his own special way it hadn't, saving most of Chicago was apparently not in his interests as she had reminded him. She had explained that he couldn't be the hero all the time to these Americans, especially when it gave her more paperwork to do and if it meant she would have to explain to some RCMP high ranking lawyer why it had been so costly for him to right all the wrongs in Chicago. So he was here standing overlooking the world as it went by. He never saw it as a punishment which he should be avoiding occurring again, for he did enjoy watching the lives of Chicago unfold before him and that he could use the time to think over his 'trips' with Ray or to read another book in his mind or even think of how to stop Dief and his sugar craze. It gave him a change of scene to have people to watch and in a sense to be with. The Yukon had been quite lonely and this 'watching' was as he had found a good way to change his outlook on society and had helped him get over the problems he had suffered in Moose Jaw especially with the noise.
However as it was spring the worst thing that could happen happened. It started to rain heavily. People started to walk quicker, even run and shelter was found, not for him though. He was only in his red service surge and didn't have his outside peacoat or anything useful to hand. Usually at this point Turnbull would of looked out of the window, noticed the rain and would have come out to him and put his peacoat onto him but Turnbull was out for the whole day on a training exercise which the Inspector had forced him to take to try and get him to file things correctly instead of his system. No one else was in at the moment it being a quite quiet day and it also being lunchtime so that was out and he couldn't move. The treasured hat started to get water pouring off it in waves and the surge was beginning to get rather sodden and heavy. Oh dear, Ray would have, on any other day, like last week would of noticed as well out of the 27th station's windows and driven over to him, with a raincoat and umbrella in hand to keep him dry and give him some company with his car radio (the Riv parked illegally once again) giving an account of last night's Bulls game and other such delights of the Chicago radio systems. But it was unlikely that he would be here. Lieutenant Welsh had seemed to take the same view as the Inspector on the case for once, unusually. Ray was now knee deep in traffic paperwork and it seemed that they would be unable to meet and go off somewhere solving crimes for some time. The water had now started to run into his boots and like all knee length boots started to puddle at the bottom soaking his socks. He had two hours of this left, it was not good, oh what he would give for someone to go to his aid or for the rain to stop, he was going to have major clothing issues soon and he didn't think that would be easy to dry this stuff out by tomorrow for that trade meeting at the consulate. He wished someone would. In fact he's so busy hoping for a member of Chicago's public to come to his aid he didn't notice her appearing next to him.
Inspector Meg Thatcher walks out the building with Ben's peacoat under her arm and with a Canada logoed covered umbrella which is now part of all going out kit as well as carrying what seemed to be from Ben's view a flask of tea and two empty mugs. She sits on a small deck chair which she has carried out with her and sets the tea's down on the floor. Smoothly putting his peacoat around his shoulders and threading it through his arms she opens the umbrella, placing it firmly into Ben's hand covering both him and her. Sat down once again on the deck chair she looks up and speaks, tersely.
"I know you can't talk and move but after the paperwork and phone calls I've just been through because of you I don't care either way" Ben made no response; it seemed to him that for this conversion he was just a sounding board. "Well yes you would say it isn't your actual fault, what was it you said, you think you have something to give them don't you" he still said nothing, could she still remember when she fired him and un-fired him, that was last year. "I made you a mug of tea you know, not because I wanted to but, well I over filled the kettle" she stops and glares at him, "are you even listening to me?" She stood and looked him in the eye, "look I know you didn't meant to cause that damage but you do realise that it isn't actually part of your job don't you? Of course you do, but once again you decide to ignore me and my wishes for a smooth running ship here and seem, however much you don't wish to, which is why I don't really hold it against you Fraser, to destroy that and get me and my seemingly lack of control here noticed".