Chapter 1 Chapter Text

Many men have lived before Agamemnon / all unwept and unknown/ are lost in the distant night/ since they are without divine poet/ (to chronicle their deeds).
Horace ~ Odes

After a few days of recuperation and two IV bags of fluids, the time had come for Constable Benton Fraser's release. Layers of skin flaked off of his sun burnt face and he sat uncomfortably in a wheelchair.
"Don't worry, Benny, at least this way you finally get a vacation." Ray reasoned as he pushed the Mountie down the hallway toward the elevator.
"I don't think a broken leg constitutes much of a vacation, Detective Vecchio." Inspector Meg Thatcher countered dryly. Diefenbaker trotted ahead, glad he couldn't hear the humans and their squabbles.
"Perhaps there's something I could do at the consulate; paperwork, answering the telephone." Ben suggested looking from Ray to Meg hopefully.
"Nope, not for a few weeks at least." Ray shrugged before craning his neck to watch a young, brunette nurse walk away.
"You should concentrate on getting better, Fraser." Meg rested her hand on the Mountie's shoulder, squeezed it gently and gave him a wink.
"Okay," Ben gave in, returning Meg's wink.
"I have to stop by the pharmacy before I go home." Ben held up the prescriptions the doctor had given him.
"Home?" both Ray and Meg said in unison. Ray halted the wheelchair in the middle of the hall.
"Yes, my apartment – home." Ben elucidated.
"There's no elevator." Ray pointed out, again pushing the wheelchair.
"You can stay with me, I have a spare bedroom." Meg offered.
"He can stay at my place, there's always someone around if he needs something." Ray argued.
"I don't want to inconvenience anyone, really, I'll be fine in my apartment. Diefenbaker will be there should I need anything." Ben pointed out, trying to make them see his reasoning.
"NO!" Again, Ray and Meg agreed on something.
"Come on, Fraser, choose." Ray said as he pushed the wheelchair through the automatic doors of the hospital's main entrance.
"Oh dear," Ben thought to himself.
"Perhaps we should make it a fair choice. We'll flip for it." Meg suggested diplomatically.
"Okay," Ray stopped on the sidewalk and began digging in his slacks' pocket for a quarter.
"Here," Meg held out a coin, waiting for Ray to stop digging.
"We can't do it with that, it's Canadian." Ray protested looking at the loonie in her hand.
"So is Constable Fraser." Meg pointed out, glaring at the detective. Begrudgingly, Ray took the coin, turning it over to examine both sides.
"Call it, Inspector," Ray said as he flipped the coin.
"Heads," Meg called out. Ray caught the coin and slapped it against the back of his left hand, covering the results. A moment of dramatic silence later he pulled his hand away to reveal the head of the coin.
"He's all yours, Inspector." Ray shrugged, handing her the coin back.
Ben kept a relieved sigh to himself. He didn't look forward to recuperating at the Vecchio house. Having Francesca's undivided attention sounded like a nightmare. Plus, it gave him time to get to know Meg better.

Meg's Neighborhood …
"I'm tellin' you, Fraser, you'd have someone there to wait on you hand and foot at my house. Ma fixes three meals a day." Ray said as he rounded the end of his precious Buick Riviera to retrieve the wheelchair from the trunk. Meg helped Ben out of the car after crawling out of the driver's side back seat.
"Ray, I'll be fine. The Inspector won the coin toss fair and square." Ben repeated. Where he would recover had been the topic of conversation all the way from the hospital to the pharmacy and now to Meg's apartment. Ray had wanted best two out of three coin tosses, with an American coin.
"You are such a sore loser, Detective." Meg shook her head as she took Ben's crutches while he sat down into the wheelchair.
"Bite me." Ray snarled, carrying Fraser's personal belongings bag. Meg gave a derisive snort and began pushing Ben toward the entrance to the upper-middle-class apartment building.
Once inside Meg's third floor apartment she pulled the heavy drapes covering the sliding glass doors leading to a small balcony. A comfortable lounge chair and table sat out in the weather, a perfect place to watch the world go by.
"I'll check on you later, Fraser, bring Dief's kibble and stuff." Ray offered, not stepping farther into Meg's lair than necessary.
"Thank you kindly, Ray, I appreciate it." Ben shook his best friend's hand before he left.
A long moment of silence crawled by as Meg stood in the center of the living room, staring at Ben. She didn't know what to say. Away from the consulate and duty they could be themselves. She wasn't exactly sure who that was.
"Do you want anything, something to drink?" Meg spoke first, crossing the living room to the kitchen, a small, windowless room lined with cabinets and appliances to the left and a small, dining table to the right.
"Yes, water, please." Ben answered, glad to have something normal to do. He sat in the living room, looking around at Meg's décor. The walls were an eggshell white, the couch a wet sand color with Mediterranean blue throw pillows. A matching easy chair sat in the corner, beside the balcony. Along the wall beside the door stood a night stand with a modest television and a VCR beneath it. An oriental rug in hues of brown and black against a cream background covered the hardwood floor.
"I haven't really took the time to decorate properly, but it's comfortable enough." Meg said as she gathered ice cubes from the freezer.
"It's lovely, I like it." Ben complimented. He studied a set of hand drawn pictures of dogs above the television.
"Did you draw those?" Ben asked as Meg handed him the water glass.
"Yes, the dachshund is, well, was, mine. The others belonged to my friends in high school." Meg smiled as she stood beside Ben. Diefenbaker made a noise in his throat, agreeing with Ben. The old wolf-dog had laid down near the balcony, blocking the door as he lay in a shaft of mid-day sun.
"Thank you." Meg said softly, her cheeks pinkening.
"Do you still draw?" Ben asked, hoping to coax her into talking freely.
"Not since coming to Chicago. I don't have as much free time." She sighed before crossing the room to sit in the easy chair.
"That's a shame, you're very good." Ben adjusted his position to look across the room at her.
"Thank you, that's kind of you to say." Meg shrugged, looking away shyly.
After a few minutes Ben had finished his water and Meg had tidied her spare bedroom. She hoped to impress Ben, to make him comfortable.
"Do you have to go to the consulate?" Ben's voice startled Meg as she smoothed the fluffy pillow at the head of the twin bed.
"Oh, Ben, yes, I have to make some arrangements this afternoon. There's a forest's worth of paperwork from the hit and run." Meg answered, smoothing her slacks' thigh nervously. She hadn't heard Ben wheel himself down the hall and to the left, stopping in the doorway.
"Perhaps you could bring it home and I could assist." Ben offered, his expression hopeful Meg debated with herself for a minute. Ben needed his rest but she knew he'd go crazy without anything to occupy his time.
"That'll be fine, as long as you don't over do things." Gently, she touched the un-burnt side of his face and watched as he closed his eyes.
"You have my word." Ben's eyes flew open and a lopsided grin transformed his face.
Meg couldn't help herself, she laughed out loud.
"Take it easy, I'll be back in a few hours." Meg squeezed his hand.
****

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