Love's Twist
Disclaimer: Frasier is property of someone else and it is not mine. I write to entertain and do not intend to make profit off this work.
Pairings: Niles/Fraiser friendship, Niles/Daphne. Frasier/Roz friendship
Warnings: gay character, gay frasier, Bi frasier, bi character, gay outting, homophobia, homophobic Martin, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, distress, redefining of self
AN: Set after Fraiser gets outted on the radio. Fraiser wonders if he may actually be gay. This changes his life forever.
For Fraiser, as soon as the caller said those words, his whole world changed. Maybe for him this news wouldn't shatter any relationships or cause too much harm. The caller was incorrect. Of course he was. Right?
In any event, that wasn't the issue here. He had read about how such "outting" had impacted other actually gay men. Those who were less lucky than him. Sure he had received calls from such men but he admitted that until now, he never felt the sharp shock of it. Why should his personal business, straight, gay or whatever, be anyone elses? Had someone been following him? And what were they thinking just telling everyone exactly where Fraiser had been?
True or not, this wasn't to be tolerated.
Conclusions had been leapt to and this would need challenged.
After the show, he decided to go straight home. He wasn't in the mood and he had to analyse the issue at hand. What would he do about this problem? He opted out of his usual routine and took his sherry into his room so he could think.
The next day at work, he found Roz scowling at the stack of fanmail. It was bigger than usual. She must not have heard him enter, as she threw another letter in the bin in anger. Only a slim stack of mail remained when she was done. Finally she sighed and picked up her clipboard, looking over the pages. She paused at one page, looking upset again.
"Relationship troubles?" he asked concerned.
She jumped but didn't roll her eyes at him. Not relationship troubles then. "Look, I guess I should tell you. Someone should. After that caller last show...you have been getting some nasty mail. I guess its not unexpected but..." she confessed.
He didn't think it would happen this quickly. He had barely been given time to defend himself. There was no proof he was gay. He was already getting hate mail. He didn't expect the hurt this caused. He wasn't gay, why should he feel hurt by this misunderstanding? Yet some part of him felt betrayed. He calmed his emotions. "Lets just do the show. Work should keep both of us busy enough to forget this. Okay?" he proposed.
She didn't look thrilled at the prospect but nodded anyway.
The show went on, the first hour seemed to go well. Some callers voiced support or sympathy for his 'misunderstanding'. Others just went right on to their problem and didn't seem to care. Then came another caller.
Roz had been screening out abusive calls all show. She managed to keep most out until this one. He kept up his charade at first. He explained that he suspected his son was gay and asked what to do. When Fraiser advised him to let his son express his own desires the abuse started. Thankfully they managed to cut him off the air quickly enough but the damage was done.
Roz was angry. The letters were bad enough but this was too far. No one hurt her friends and got away with it.
Fraiser just hung up his headphones and tried to keep in his emotions. Failing miserably, he just cried. If this was happening when everyone thought he was gay, what would happen if he confirmed it? Screw the question of if he was gay, was expressing any potential desires worth this?
He felt Roz's arms around him and allowed her to comfort him. He felt her shaking in anger and perhaps her own unshed tears. "I'll just play The Best of Fraiser Crane for the rest of the week. I'll tell them you don't feel well. I think we both need a break. Screw this. It unfair." she spoke protectively.
He wasn't sure he could get away with that but agreed with the sentiment.
When they had both calmed down, they both decided to just go home. She would need to stay a little longer but wanted to make sure he got to his car okay. Getting to the carpark was a nightmare. Roz kept them moving despite all the glares, morbid curiosity, questions and rumour spreading. She didn't have the time for this. When they reached the car, she felt her anger turn into practically homicidal rage.
On the side someone had spray painted "Fag" in large clear letters.
Despite her friends newly refreshed distress, she actually had to calm herself enough to think clearly. This wasn't what Fraiser needed. Hurting others would not help anyone. She had to focus on the situation. Fraiser needed her to be there. She needed to come up with a plan. No one was driving that car anywhere. He most certainly wasn't getting home alone now.
So she sat against the nearest wall, comforting Fraiser again. He was a mess. And it was no wonder. She knew who she should call.
She pulled up Nile's phone number and hit call. Once she explained what had happened, he agreed to pick his brother up. He took one look at the pair and any acidic "jokes" that might have come to mind were stopped instantly. Roz looked happy to see him. He could see she was both emotionally exhausted and fired up. It was actually terrifying. He wasn't sure he wanted to be the person who had pissed off her!
"I'm sorry about all this. I'm not sure being alone is the best thing for him right now. I didn't know anyone else I could trust that was even half way qualified. Tell Fraiser I will take care of things here. I will organise the car to be cleaned up and any security measures. His fine for however long he needs." she spoke, the words rushing out even as her voice betrayed her hurt.
"Are you sure your alright to do all that?" he asked, feeling both concerned and duty bound to do so.
Roz looked determined now. "Look, pretty boy, you may have servants but this is my job. I work hard. Fraiser needs someone to hold down the fort for now. I'll be damned if these lunatics win." she answered angrily.
He was impressed. "Keep me updated then." he simply said, ignoring her misdirected rage.