The apartment was quiet when Ray woke up early in the morning. He and Fraser had talked until four am about Victoria and what she had done to Fraser. It was a long, painful conversation… one Fraser needed to tell and one Ray needed to hear. Ray got dressed and wandered into the kitchen to prepare coffee. Fraser was still sound asleep, thanks to the extra painkiller Ray had given him. He dropped some bread into the toaster and leaned against the counter, smiling warmly at the memory of what had taken place after their talk.

Fraser had led them to their bedroom, undressed them, pushed Ray onto their bed and covered his long slender body with his own. They exchanged kisses and caresses and then made love. Ray smiled at the memory of earlier that morning. Fraser was a confident lover and had all of Ray's sweet spots memorized. Fraser had brought him to the edge and back several times before they both fell off the cliff together at their climax, lost in each other. They lay tangled around each other's limbs, neither one willing to let go as they drifted off to sleep together.

Victoria had hurt Fraser badly, Ray knew that from the file and from what he had been told by Fraser himself, yet he wondered if there still wasn't more to the story that Fraser was still hiding. He glanced at his watch and decided it wasn't too early to phone Vecchio. He hated the idea of calling the man, but this was to help Ben and if they were going to find Victoria, they may need the extra help. He checked the bedroom once again to make sure Fraser was still asleep and closed the door quietly. If Fraser woke up, he would have a warning with the opening of the door in order to cut his conversation short.

Ray took a calming breath and dialed the number out of their address book. He was hoping he didn't get Stella either. He wasn't in the mood for her harping over his choice of a lover. Ever since they had moved back from Florida, the tension seemed to have returned between the two of them. Ray would have liked to place all the blame on her, but he knew he gave her just as much grief over her choice in Vecchio… 'What did she see in him anyway?'

Stella answered on the third ring and Ray cringed… 'Bite the bullet and be nice, Kowalski'.

"Morning, Stell. Is Ray around? I need to pick his brain."

"Sure, he's in the study going over some case files. Let me go get him. You're up early aren't you?"

"It's eight in the morning, that's not early."

"It's Saturday, Ray. You're rarely up before noon on the weekends."

"Well, I couldn't sleep, hence my reason for calling. Are you gonna get Vecchio or not?" Ray asked agitated.

"Fine, I'm sorry. Here he is… say hello to Ben for me." Stella replied curtly.

"Will do, thanks." Ray relaxed his voice, lessening the tension. 'So, Stella was trying to be nice.'

Stella passed the phone off to her husband and shrugged her shoulders after she mouthed who was on the other end. Vecchio was shocked that Kowalski would be calling him. 'Oh, god… what if something happened to Benny?'

"Stanley… is Benny okay?" Vecchio couldn't hide the slight tremor in his voice.

Ray chuckled inwardly. He figured that would be Vecchio's first response. "No… that's why I just carried on a casual conversation with your wife. If there were a problem I wouldn't be small talking with Stella. But I do need to talk with you about Fraser."

"So he's okay, nothing's wrong?" Vecchio asked, relaxing slightly.

"He's fine Vecchio. But, I need to know what you know about Victoria Metcalf."

"It's all in the files, Kowalski. That's a closed subject for me."

"Yeah well, you see, it ain't all in the files. I need to know your version of how things went down."

"Why are you opening up this can of worms? Can't you just leave the past where it belongs? That was a really hard time for Benny and me, but we made it through and we moved on. I don't have anything to tell you."

"Come on Vecchio, you know as well as I do that he isn't going to tell me anything. I need your help understanding."

"Why is this so important now, huh? Benny's got a bullet in his back, isn't that enough help from me? I can't go through that again… I can't and I won't."

Ray hung his head defeated… he was going to have to tell him about the diner. "There was an incident last night when we went out for dinner."

"Incident? With Benny it's never just an 'incident'."

"Hey, come on man… that's not fair. He's your friend remember, don't you want to help him?"

"You're right, what did he do this time?"

"You know what Vecchio… fuck off. Forget I even called." Ray clicked off the handset and tossed it onto the table. It was still early, but he grabbed a beer out of the fridge anyway, popped the top and dropped himself onto the couch.

Vecchio stared at the phone in his hand. 'What just happened?' He placed the phone on his desk and laced his fingers together, tapping his thumbs against one another. 'Something was wrong enough to make Kowalski call him. What was it?'

"What did Ray want, honey… and on a Saturday no less? Everything okay with those two?"

"Umm… I'm not really sure. He was asking about an old case of mine. Wanted some info on it and I told him it was all in the file." Ray continued tapping his thumbs together.

"Oh, what kind of case? I can look into it for him if you don't have the time." Stella busied herself at her own desk sorting through her notes on her latest case. "I'm free until Wednesday… well, not free, but I have more time on my hands than I normally would."

"No, you don't need to get involved in this, it's too messy. Too many bad memories… for everyone involved. Listen, I'm uh… I'm going to give him a call back, maybe go meet with him and give him my file on the case. You okay by yourself today?"

"Sure, I can get my work done while you're gone. We can order in tonight if you want." Stella gave her husband a lingering kiss. When she pulled back she looked Vecchio in the eyes, "Play nice, Ray."

"Kowalski can bite me, but I'll try for Benny's sake. I'll be home for dinner, Chinese sound good? I'll pick it up on the way home." Ray kissed her again, grabbed his cell and jacket then headed out the door. Backing out of the driveway, he called Kowalski back. It had been ten minutes tops since he had been told to 'fuck off'. He had to find out what was going on.

Ray answered on the second ring. Fraser was still asleep and he wanted him to get his rest. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

"Yeah…" he answered roughly into the phone.

"Stanley… what the fuck? What kind of trouble is Benny in? And why did you hang up on me?" Vecchio tried to put as much anger in his voice as he could muster towards Kowalski to hide his concern for Fraser.

"Oh, so now you care about him?"

"Listen to me, Kowalski…"

"No, you listen… Ben was shot again last night…" Ray snapped into the phone. If he could punch Vecchio through the receiver, he would.

"What? Why didn't you say something?"

"When did you give me a chance with all your, 'What did Benny do this time?' bullshit?"

Vecchio took a deep breath, 'Yeah… that was a low blow to his friend'. "I'm sorry, okay? What happened? Is he okay?" Vecchio tensed up again.

"He's fine, gonna be okay, it's just a graze… but now it's bringing back bad memories."

"What happened Kowalski?" Vecchio asked again, getting more frustrated with the blond detective as the seconds ticked by.

"We were having dinner at a diner around the block from our apartment. He left to wash up and while he was gone a big guy came in, started looking around… looked kind of suspicious. He grabbed Ben from behind when he returned from the bathroom, started choking him and demanding the money from the register. This guy was huge, Vecchio… just towered over Ben. I had my gun on him and he must have been high on something 'cause he was strong and Ben was turning colors and there was a cop behind that he didn't see, so I put my gun down and let the guy think he was going to get away. But… but the cop from behind was a rookie and he got anxious and shot the Incredible Hulk when he tried leaving. The bullet went through, hitting Ben."

"Friendly fire…" Vecchio exhaled deeply. 'Shit… it's like Victoria all over again'.

"Yeah… not so friendly, is it? Anyway, he was having nightmares last night and he starts talking about Victoria and how he needs to find her and will I help him."

"And you told him 'Yes'? Are you crazy Kowalski?" Vecchio pulled to a stop and turned into the nearest parking lot.

"He needs to do this, Vecchio. He needs some kind of closure; put her behind him once and for all. I don't know what all happened, but I'm pretty sure you know more than what's in that flimsy file of yours. You treat him like he is some Canadian version of Superman, well, he's human, alright. He's made mistakes, just like the rest of us."

Vecchio sighed in frustration. He had been down this road with Benny before… he didn't want to visit it again. "Alright, fine… where can I meet you? I'm not talking with Fraser there."

"Oh… yes you are… the three of us are going to get it all out in the open. I love him… okay, and if I'm going to help, you're both going to tell me everything. No more secrets from either of you."

"You may not like what you hear, Kowalski… you ever think of that?"

"I wouldn't have called you if I were worried about that. I'm worried about Ben, Vecchio."

"Ok, I'm coming over. You got the coffee on? I'll bring doughnuts for the wolf… a peace offering."

"Oh yeah, likes that's going to make Fraser happy."

Ray clicked off the phone and leaned his head against the back of the couch. He rubbed his forehead and temples with his fingers. 'This could be a long conversation.' He got up from the couch, went into the kitchen and took a couple of Advil for the headache he knew he was going to have later. He tossed them back with a gulp of water and sighed. He already had a pot of coffee made, so he poured water in the tea kettle for Fraser and made himself some more toast. He dumped the remainder of his beer down the drain and discarded the bottle. He had his back to the living room and felt two strong arms wrap around his waist. He momentarily melted into Fraser's embrace. He felt Fraser nuzzling his neck and then a kiss planted behind his ear.

"Good morning, Ray." Fraser whispered into his ear. "Who was that on the phone? Did you call your eye doctor?" Fraser was wearing only his boxers when he entered the kitchen. He was considering dragging Ray back to bed with him after he slid his arms around his waist and felt how good he felt in his arms again.

Ray could feel the smile on Fraser's face. God… he loved this man. He turned in Fraser's arms and wrapped his own slender arms around Fraser's waist, pulling him closer. He planted a kiss on his lips and then one to the tip of Fraser's nose. He had started doing that one morning as a joke and it stuck and had become their morning greeting ever since. "Morning, Frase. No, I haven't gotten that far yet. But I will." He delivered a quick swat to Fraser's backside and the Mountie jumped. "Better get dressed, Vecchio's on his way over."

Fraser released Ray's waist and smiled warmly at the mention of his friend's name. He went to the toaster dropping in his own bread. "Really? This early on a Saturday, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Ben busied himself with the tea kettle on the stove.

Ray prepared himself for Fraser's reaction. "We're going to talk about Victoria… all three of us."

Fraser stopped what he was doing at the stove and turned to look at Ray. His stare was cold and his blue eyes, iced over. "Ray… why are you involving him? I asked you to help me find her."

"Because between the two of you, you're going to tell me everything that Vecchio left out of that report." Ray returned the cold stare, he didn't want this to turn ugly so he turned his glare into a less menacing one and added a warm smile.

"He left it out for a reason." Fraser looked down towards the floor his voice dropping to a whisper.

"And why is that, Ben?" Ray was talking with his hands and Fraser knew he was getting agitated.

"He was protecting me."

"Don't you think I want to protect you, too?"

"You don't have anything to lose, Ray."

Ray shook his head and crossed the kitchen and stood in front of Fraser. He took both of his hands into his own and locked their fingers together. "Yes I do, Ben. I have you to lose. And I'm afraid if we go after the bitch and I don't know everything, it's going to tear us apart and I can't bear to see that happen. I won't lose you to an old memory. I need to know and I need to be able to understand what she did to you."

"Fair enough." Fraser hung his head, shame written across his face.

Ray took his index finger and lifted Fraser's chin. He could see the fresh tears forming in Fraser's eyes. "Ben, I love you. Okay? Nothing you tell me is going to change that. Understand?"

Fraser blink and a tear slipped down his cheek. He looked deep into Ray's eyes and told him the truth. "I was going with her. I was going to jump bail and go with her. Ray would have lost everything."

Ray nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah… that wasn't in the file. Go, throw some clothes on and you can finish telling me what happened."

Fraser retreated to their bedroom and came out a few minutes later wearing jeans and a loose t-shirt. Ray melted. 'Even just crawling out of bed, Fraser looked good'.

Fraser continued his story while making himself a cup of tea. "By protecting me, he protected himself. He reported that he thought she had a gun. The only gun found was the one I had taken from her, when I found her at the train and she had dropped the diamonds. Her prints were on it of course as well as mine…but they never found her. "

"Did you have anything to do with that… the diamonds?"

"She was blackmailing me. Told me that if I didn't help her get the diamonds, she was going to the police and tell them I was a part of the bank robbery and that I had the money stashed in a locker at the train station. She had a key hidden in Ray's house to that locker with the money. She called the DA and told them where it was to frame me and implicate Ray as well. She didn't know that I had found the key. I tore Ray's house upside down looking for it. I switched it with the one she had had in her bag before she pushed me out of the car she had stolen. I ran to the train station, met Ray there and he went after the money and I went after Victoria."

"So you got her… why didn't you bring her in?"

Fraser shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "I had taken the gun from her. That part was easy, she knew she wouldn't be able to shoot me and I knew she wasn't capable of it either."

"But she killed that Jolly guy. She was a killer, Fraser."

"I know that…"

"So, how could you let her go?"

"I had the gun and she said, 'I'm getting on that train… you're going to have to shoot me to stop me.' She knew I wouldn't be able to do that just as much as I did."

"Why, because you're not licensed to shoot a gun in the states?" Ray asked incredulously. 'Oh god, he just sounded like Vecchio. "I'm sorry… Ben, that was uncalled for." Ray squeezed Fraser's arm and encouraged him to continue.

"No… because I thought I still loved her, even with everything she had done. I was willing to destroy everything I stood for, to be with her. When she started calling, 'Come with me…' I hesitated and then began running. I saw Ray running towards the train with the Lieutenant and he was aiming for her and I just kept running, fast as I could. At first, it was to stop her, and then the closer I got… it was to go with her. She kept yelling, 'Come with me, Ben… come with me.' And then, I jumped…"

"Who was Vecchio really aiming for?"

"Ray…" Fraser flinched at the accusation.

"Sorry... he was your friend; of course he wasn't aiming for you."

"He is my friend. At that point, he didn't know I had decided to go with her. Hell, I didn't know until I jumped. I found out later, he thought she had a gun and was going to shoot me. She had fired at us when we entered the train station, so he knew she had one at some point. He fired just as I made my decision and jumped onto the train. It was the biggest mistake of my life, and I paid a huge price. I'm not proud of what I had done."

"We all make mistakes, Ben. We all have our weak moments when we forget ourselves and try to be someone we're not."

"Lying there on that platform… I told Ray I should be with her. That was when he knew I was leaving with her. I don't remember anything after that. I just know that he stopped me and she got away."

"Vecchio was worried about saving you, Ben. I'm sure getting you medical attention was more important to Vecchio and Welsh than catching her at the time."

"I've lived with that guilt for a very long time."

"That's when Vecchio covered for you, saying that you were trying to apprehend her and he thought she was going to shoot you… so he fired."

"Yes…"

Ray shook his head. "God, he has the worst aim…"

Fraser smiled and nodded. "I thought that for a very long time as well, especially while I was lying motionless in a hospital bed, not able to get away from his constant visits, from his guilt, while mine was eating me up as well."

Fraser took Ray's hands into his. "He has the best aim, Ray. I wouldn't be here with you, if he had missed. If you think about it, Ray had impeccable aim. He hit a moving target, dead center."

"Yeah, except he missed the right target." Ray added dryly.

"And now, I need to find her and bring her in. But I need your help. You keep me strong, Ray. I trust you to have my back… that is, if you'll still help me."

"I'm more than willing to help you, but I gotta know everything first, from you and not Vecchio. I told you… I love you and nothing will change that. I just can't see what you saw in her, after everything she had done."

Fraser looked through Ray into the past. "She saved my life, many years ago… and I led myself to believe that she did it out of love."

"Yeah… love's a tricky thing." Ray replied with a touch of sarcasm.

"Before I could change it, that lie morphed into a truth for me. I believed when she showed up in Chicago, it was by coincidence, and that she still loved me even after she had done her time in prison. I let that lie snowball, even as I jumped onto that train… I believed she still loved me."

"I let Stella believe that I had wet myself as a distraction in that bank all those years ago. I know all about lies snowballing."

"I was too blind to see what she was really doing to me and I couldn't admit it to myself or to Ray until I was going through my therapy. It finally dawned on me what I had done to myself, what I had let myself become in her presence and I knew that I had been wrong. I just didn't know how to make amends for anything without destroying Ray."

"Ben… we all have made huge mistakes. It's what we have learned from that that counts in the end."

"I didn't know what Ray had put in the files at that time. No one had questioned me about his report, so, I remained silent and let them believe what he told them. I was struggling with a serious wound and was barely conscious for a majority of the first three weeks I was in the hospital, so talking to me would have been pointless. By then, they had recovered the money she had stolen along with the diamonds. As far as they were concerned, it was a closed case. I couldn't handle the guilt of destroying him as well, so I kept the facts between Ray and myself. And together, we moved on."

"You forgave him?"

"Eventually… yes, and he forgave me as well. It didn't happen overnight, but it happened."

Ray let a crooked smile grace his face.

"What's so funny?" Fraser asked as he slid closer to Ray on the couch.

"I might have told Vecchio to um… 'fuck off' this morning."

"Ray…" Fraser scolded his partner. "What did he do to deserve that?"

"He was being a shitty friend, so I set him straight. He's bringing doughnuts to make peace." Ray raised his eyebrows and Fraser laughed.

Ray pulled Fraser into a kiss. "I'm sorry, Ben… but I needed to know." He whispered into Fraser's ear as he broke the kiss.

"I know, I understand. I'm sorry it took me so long to be able to tell you. I was ashamed, that's why I never said anything before now." Fraser pulled Ray into another kiss.

"I'd never be ashamed of you, Ben. Everyone makes mistakes. Besides which, according to what truth there is in Vecchio's file, the bitch targeted and played you, Ben." Ray exclaimed softly.

Fraser began to push him down into the couch. He was stopped by a knocking on the door.

"That would be Vecchio." Ray tried to push Fraser off of him but the Mountie resisted. "Come on, Fraser. He already doesn't like me… let's not give him any more ammunition to use against me."

Fraser stopped kissing Ray's neck and sat up quickly at his choice of words.

Ray cringed when he realized what he had said.

Fraser smiled softly at him and Ray relaxed. "If he needs ammunition, he can have his bullet back."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, Ben."

"It's okay, Ray." Fraser kissed him again quickly then slid off Ray and got up to answer the door.

Vecchio was standing impatiently on the other side of the door, holding what looked like a box of doughnuts. Fraser smiled as he opened the door for his friend.

"Benny, how are you?" Vecchio gave Fraser a warm hug as he handed the box of doughnuts to Ray.

"I'm good, Ray. Thank you kindly."

"How's the shoulder? Stanley told me you were hurt."

Fraser stole a glance at Ray, who had deposited the doughnuts in the kitchen and was retrieving coffee mugs out of the cupboard. "It will heal with time."

Ray returned with two mugs of coffee. "Here Vecchio, have some coffee and let's have a seat, okay." Ray retreated to the kitchen to make Fraser a cup of tea before sitting down beside Fraser on the couch.

"Alright, I'm here. Let's get this over with. If you want my opinion, you don't open up old wounds."

"Well, you're not here for your opinion." Ray added dryly.

"Ray…" Fraser warned.

Ray held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry."

"I've told him everything, Ray. I thought it only fair that he hear it from me." Fraser explained to Vecchio.

"Everything, Benny?" Vecchio questioned.

"Yes, everything. All the ugly details I never wanted to admit to anyone, he now knows."

Vecchio sat forward in his chair and stared hard at Kowalski. "Everything he told you… stays between the three of us. It doesn't leave this room. You understand?"

"I'm not stupid, Vecchio. I want to protect him just as much as you do."

"Gentleman, please. Let's not lose sight of the bigger picture here. I have to find her and I have to bring her in. I need that closure; otherwise she is going to haunt me forever. I need both of your help and I'm asking you to put your personal differences aside for the time being, for me."

Both Ray's apologized at the same time. Vecchio was the first to respond. "Okay, Benny, where do we start? It's been how long since the bitch took off? How do you propose we find her after all these years?"

"It's been almost four years since she disappeared. They never found her on the train."

"Which means, she either disguised herself really well…" Vecchio continued Fraser's train of thought.

"Or she got off right away." Ray added. Both Fraser and Vecchio looked at him. "Think it through… everyone was going to be looking for her on that train. A cop just got shot and she knew they would be looking on that train for her. She got scared and got off right away. She knew she wouldn't have enough time to disguise herself and it would take too much time to seduce someone into helping her. Who's to say she ever left Chicago?"

Fraser and Vecchio exchanged a glance before looking back at Ray. "She stalked you before Ben, when she found out you were in Chicago. It wasn't by coincidence that she showed up here, she knew where you were. You've got to consider the fact that maybe she never stopped."

Vecchio sat back in his chair and took a long gulp of his coffee. "Ray may be on to something Benny. When I first got back from Vegas and found out that my house had been burned down and the Riv, and your apartment… I thought maybe it had been Victoria that was responsible, or had a hand in it at least."

Fraser looked at his friend and a frown appeared on his face. "You know, I had that same thought, but I never looked into it. I had to come to terms with there being a blond Ray Vecchio with experimental hair standing at your desk claiming to be you. I was a little confused and didn't put any more thought into it."

"Yeah… that had to have been rough, I'm sorry Benny."

"You did what you had to do, Ray. You know… Victoria liked to burn things. Remember my father's cabin had been burned, her sister's car crashed over a cliff and her body was burned beyond recognition. I imagine if we had the body exhumed, we would find Victoria killed her as well to steal her identity. She lit all those damn candles in my apartment the first night she was there."

"Ben… she's a fucking pyromaniac. We need to talk to Greta Garbo, see if Victoria was involved in those fires as well." Ray was up off the couch and pacing. "How soon can we talk to her?"

Fraser stood up and pulled him to a stop. He looked at Vecchio and back to Ray. "Are you both in this with me?"

"Absolutely…" was their combined reply.