-1Disclaimer: I don't own Due South.
(Set just before, and after the end of 'Call of the Wild, Part 2')
One Way
"Hello, Ray."
"Hey, Benny, how's the vacation going?"
"Well, it's everything a Mountie could ask for, Ray. Lots of fresh air, plenty of exercise . . . How's Chicago?"
"Oh, you know, Chicago's Chicago. I'm just calling to let you know that I may not be there at the train to pick you up."
"Well that's no hardship Ray. I have legs, I can walk."
"I know you have legs, Benny, that's not the point. I'm just calling to let you know that… you might be on your own for a while."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, why would anything be wrong? I'm just calling to let you know that I'd like to be there to pick you up, but if I can't be there, it's not because I didn't want to be, it's because something came up."
"You're sure everything's all right?"
"Look, Benny, I don't know if they have a similar thing up there in Canada but down here in America, we have this thing called friendship, and this is something that a friend would do. Like for example, if a friend calls another friend and he's supposed to be at a certain time and a certain place and he can't be there, then he usually calls to let him know."
"So everything is all right?"
"Yeah, Benny. Everything is all right."
"That's good to hear, Ray."
"It's good to hear your voice. Listen, um, I want you to have a safe trip, and I will be in touch."
"All right, Ray."
"You understand that I will be in touch."
"As a friend?"
"Yeah, Benny. As a friend."
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Constable Benton Fraser took a deep breath before entering the cabin. It wasn't something he did a lot, but he felt he needed it, for his own sake, if no-one else's. He looked over his shoulder to where Ray was sat in the snow, Diefenbaker sat idly by his side. Or was that Stanley Kowalski now? Fraser wasn't sure what he should call him. He hadn't been sure ever since he had seen the real Ray Vecchio in the hotel.
"I'm deep undercover. Never waiting in line, always getting the best tables at the best restaurants. I live in a 9,000 square foot adobe house at the edge of the desert, with a butler named Nero who brings me buttermilk night and day, and everywhere I go I sit in the back seat of a black limo with my elbow on the gangster lean. And all this, all this, you wipe out with one word?"
"It's good to see you, Ray."
"It's good to see you too, Benny."
A heavy hand clapped onto his shoulder. Buck Frobisher gave him a supportive smile. He had allowed Fraser to use his phone to make the call.
"Not to worry, son. He's a good man, I remember that much. Perhaps he complained too much, but still. A good man. He'll take it well."
Benton wasn't so sure. He could only imagine how his ex-partner would feel when he told him that he was leaving with Stanley Kowalski. Ray had only just returned from what must have felt like an eternity in hell, and here he was, Ray's best friend, leaving with only a phone call. Not that he regretted his choice of action. Not only is it what Benton needed and wanted, he could see that Stanley needed it too. Perhaps more so than him.
For while Fraser needed to return home, Stanley needed to know who he was. Ever since Ray's return from his undercover work, Benton could see the effects of one not knowing where they were going in life. He had known the feeling well when he had first arrived in Chicago. And Ray had been there to help him through it.
Fraser had seen this since he first met Kowalski. He was a man searching for an identity, for a true purpose. True, one's job can become one's purpose, but only if they choose it, as Fraser did. Kowalski… while he was a fine police officer (if a bit unorthodox), his heart didn't seem to be in it. Ray always showed displeasure at the job, but Fraser could see a constant need and want to be there. Not so much with Stanley.
When Fraser had first met Ray's 'replacement' as it were, there would have been nothing he would have liked more than for Kowalski to go home and for Ray to come back. But as he spent more time with the man, he saw someone in desperate need of… something. Fraser still wasn't sure what exactly he did need, but he knew this journey would be part of it. He would help Stanley, just as Ray had helped him.
Fraser nodded in reply to Frobisher's encouragement and went inside the cabin, heading for the phone. He picked it up, and then quickly set it down again, prompting a strange look from the man at the desk opposite.
After another brief pause, Fraser picked up the phone and dialled the number for an outside line. And then he stood and listened to the dial tone.
And listened.
And listened.
He didn't want to make the call. Maybe he should go back to Chicago. Take Kowalski with him. Stanley could be partners with Ray, and that would solve everything. Fraser put the phone down and turned around, heading for the door.
As his hand touched the door handle, he stopped.
No.
He had to go with Kowalski. It was a journey they needed to take, and returning to Chicago and Ray wouldn't solve that problem, only delay it. Chicago wasn't what either of them needed right now. He turned on his heel and walked over to the phone yet again, prompting yet another strange look from the man at the desk opposite.
"Perhaps you would feel more comfortable somewhere else," Fraser suggested, with far more malice in his tone than he intended. The man quickly got back to the paperwork in front of him.
Sighing, the Mountie looked back down at the phone. Taking off his Stetson, he sat on the edge of the desk, dialling the number for the outside line. Once again, he listened to the dial tone, unable to bring his hand up and push the buttons.
He grit his teeth together and thrust his hand forward, punching in the numbers. The phone began to ring, and Fraser wondered whether he was doing the right thing once more.
"It'll be great."
"Yeah."
"How do you cut down lumber up there?"
"You cut it."
"What? Like from a forest?"
"Yeah."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No."
"Wow. You know how to do that?"
Fraser mimicked an axe knocking over a tree.
Ray laughed. "Wow. I don't have an axe."
"I have an axe."
"I'll have to go and buy an axe. Do you got an axe for me?"
Fraser nodded dumbly from the hospital bed. "Yeah. I have two axes…"
The phone clicked. "Vecchio."
Fraser took a breath and smiled. "Ray."
"Hey, Benny! You got Muldoon. Nice going."
"Thanks, Ray."
"So, when are you heading back? I figure you'll be wanting to stay up in Canada for a week or two, right? Get a feel for the old country, and all that Mountie stuff?"
Fraser rubbed his eyebrow with his thumb absent-mindedly. "Well… actually, Ray…"
Ray was silent on the other end for the longest time. "Benny? Everything okay?"
"Everything's all right, Ray. I'm just… I'm going to be staying up here. I think… well, that is… I… need to be up here right now. While I was in Chicago, I was beginning to feel lost, and… well, I just think that… it would be best."
"But you'll be coming back, right?"
Constable Benton Fraser didn't say anything. He couldn't. What could he say?
"I don't know."
Silence. All Fraser could hear was the buzzing of the phone line.
"Oh." Ray coughed on the other end.
"Ray? Are you all right?"
"Yeah. It's just this…" he coughed again. "Damn golden bullet. I wish I'd cough it up already so I could retire and open my bowling alley."
Fraser smiled. "I'd forgotten about that."
"How could you forget, Benny? It's my unattainable dream. You know me. Always reaching for highest mountaintop."
"I'll have to come by and see it sometime."
"So you are coming back?"
"I… I honestly don't know, Ray."
"What's the problem?"
"It's… not a problem per se, Ray. I just need to take this journey."
"What journey?"
"To find The Hand of Franklin."
"The what of what?"
"The Hand of Franklin, Ray. Ray and I… that is, Stanley Kowalski… we're going to go look for it. To… find it."
"Right. So… Stanley's staying up there with you."
"Yes. He is."
"…what's he like? I mean… is he like me… at all? I like to think the Feds would have picked someone who was a little bit like me."
"He… shares some of your good qualities."
"Really? I thought he was kind of ugly."
Fraser smiled. "He's a good friend."
"And I guess he'd let you go looking for some hand, huh?"
"…even if he didn't understand it."
"Or like it."
"Or like it."
Ray was silent for a moment. "Sounds like a hell of a guy."
"He is. I trust him with my life."
"I'm pretty sure he trusts you with his."
Benton smiled. "That's good to know."
"Yeah."
A silence descended between them.
"I was just… calling to say that… I wouldn't be able to meet you at the airport like we planned."
Fraser could practically feel the smile coming from Ray's side. "And you were just calling out of concern…"
"…as a friend."
"As a friend."
Silence.
"Hey, maybe I'll come up and visit you at your cabin sometime, huh?"
"I'd like that, Ray."
"Yeah. We'll chop some lumber, wrestle a few bears, it'll be great."
Ray paused for a moment.
"Just keep in touch, all right?"
"As a friend?"
"Yeah, Benny. As a friend."
Fraser nodded, closing his eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
"I will, Ray."
"Okay." A pause. "Goodbye, Benny."
"Goodbye, Ray."
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Three months later.
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Fraser and Kowalski made their way up the road, trudging a trail of snow behind them. Stanley had proven to be an able travelling companion, having quickly adapted to the coldness and learnt quite a few useful skills in record time. He no longer frowned on tasting droppings, for instance, though he didn't particularly enjoy the process.
"Hey, Fraser. You, uh, gonna tell me where we're goin'?"
"You'll see, Ray."
Fraser had decided to continue calling him Ray since that was what they were both used to. It was his identity now, and Benton in no way objected to calling him Ray.
Dief trotted alongside them happily, well aware of where they were going. They approached the top of the hill, and Fraser stopped as he saw their destination. He smiled and pointed to the cabin across the field.
"There."
He squinted. "It's a cabin."
"It's my cabin."
Kowalski looked over at him. "You have a cabin?"
"Well, it's my father's, actually, but I do use it from time to time."
"Is this why you didn't want to stop at the nice, warm hotel?"
"Hotels aren't very adventurous, Ray."
"They're, warm, comfy and have room service. That's adventurous enough for me for a night or two."
Fraser shrugged. "Don't underestimate just how comfortable a cabin can be, Ray. I lived in a cabin for years as a child, and look how I turned out."
"Oh yeah, there's an endorsement for ya."
Benton gave up. "Well, I don't see any other options, so you'll have to sleep in the cabin."
"All right, all right…"
Fraser nodded and led the way.
"But there'd better be some marshmallows or sum'n… can't have a cabin fire without marshmallows…"
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"I can't believe you don't have marshmallows," Kowalski said grumpily, his arms crossed.
Although the cabin itself wasn't half bad. He had to admit, once Fraser had popped on the fire, it was a pretty nice place to be. He could see himself living in a place like this in his retirement years.
Though, at the moment, he wasn't exactly sure what job he would be retiring from. He didn't work for the police anymore, and all the money he had was from part time jobs as he and Fraser travelled around. Fraser, meanwhile, had built up an insane amount of vacation time (he had taken two weeks of vacation in his whole life), and was happily waiting around for the next few months before he had to get a posting somewhere in the territories.
Fraser came in carrying two mugs of coffee.
"Well, I'm afraid the marshmallow trees aren't blooming this time of year, so we'll have to wait until Spring."
Ray smiled up at him as he took the mug. "Hardy ha-ha, Fraser. Is it my fault if I've got romantic illusions about camping in the wild?"
"Illusions, Ray?"
"Yeah, y'know… lyin' around a campfire, marshmallows on a stick, one guy playin' a guitar. That kind of stuff."
"I can play the guitar."
"No you cannot, Frase."
"Yes, I can, Ray. Just ask Inspector Thatcher."
"You've played the guitar to Inspector Thatcher?" Kowalski snickered. "What, did you have a rose in your mouth?"
"No, Ray," Fraser said with a tired tone. "We were on a train."
"Is this the train where you and she uh…"
Fraser frowned. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about that."
Kowalski smiled and looked around the cabin. "So, uh… when's the last time you came up here?"
Benton smiled. "It was with Ray."
"Vecchio?"
"Yes."
Kowalski nodded. "What, was it like a holiday or sum'n?"
"No… well, yes. But, ah, we were rebuilding the cabin after it was burnt down."
"Who burnt it down?"
"… Victoria."
"Who?"
"I… haven't told you about her yet." He paused. "But I will."
"A bad one, huh?"
Fraser took a breath and nodded.
Ray, understanding, leant back into his chair, staring at the fire in front of them. "Why'd you come up here, then? I mean, other than to rebuild."
"Well… Ray had… well, Ray had shot me during the Victoria incident, and-"
"Woah, woah, hold up. He shot you?"
"Yes, but it wasn't his fault. He was aiming for Victoria."
"And you just happened to get in the way?"
"I… was trying to go with her."
Kowalski opened his mouth, but nothing came out. "Oh."
Fraser took a sip of his coffee. "But Ray got shot later on, so it was all right in the end."
"Oh… okay."
"We came up here to try and… mend… what had happened."
"Did it work?"
"I think so, yes."
"How long'd it take you?"
"About two weeks."
Kowalski nodded. "It's good. Was Vecchio very good at it?"
"He had… a unique way of dealing with problems. For instance, his saw became stuck in a lumber tree, and he used a technique I hadn't seen used before. Namely, kicking the tree and shouting obscenities until it fell over." Fraser shook his head and laughed. "It worked once by accident, and he seemed to think it was the best way to go about it. He almost got shot by a hunter for making so much noise."
"He stuck it out though, huh?"
Fraser looked into the fire. "He always did."
"Vecchio, uh… he sounds like a good guy."
"He is. One of the best."
"You never talked about him much. I mean, when we were working together."
"I didn't see the point."
"You mean as in comparing us or sum'n?"
"Well, no, Ray. I meant more that… well, Ray was not there, and you were. You were not Ray Vecchio, you had never met Ray Vecchio, so there would have been little point talking about him to you."
"He, uh… he was a good friend though, huh?"
"He was. He never failed to help me, even when the best thing would have been for him not to."
"Is he like me? Like, at all?"
Fraser nodded, smiling. "You're similar in some ways, yes. In others… not so similar."
"How'd you mean?"
"Well… Ray Vecchio would never taste Caribou excrement."
The Mountie broke out in a smile, which proved infectious to Kowalski. The smiles quickly grew into laughter.
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Kowalski stopped in mid yawn as he opened the door and sun assaulted his eyes.
"Gah!"
He winced as the sun reflected off the pure white snow, almost blinding him. There, over to the right, was Fraser, carving something out of wood. Kowalski made his way over, sipping on his coffee as he went, one hand in his pants pocket.
"Good morning, Ray!" Fraser said cheerfully, seeing Kowalski approaching over his shoulder.
"Yeah, mornin'. What're you makin'? Geez, it's freezin' out here!"
Fraser looked down at his work. "It's just a little project. And the reason you're freezing is because you're only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of trousers."
"Pants, Fraser, pants. I can't stress this enough. They're called pants."
"Not in Canada, Ray," Fraser said, his tone somewhat smug.
Kowalski mumbled something derogatory about Canadians as he made his way back into the cabin.
Fraser smiled, and looked down at his nearly finished project.
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Kowalski placed the last washed mug in the cupboard before picking up his bag and slinging it around his shoulders.
"So… where're we headin' next?"
"There's a town roughly thirty kilometres due south of here. I thought we could go there."
Kowalski nodded. "Okay."
They made their way through the door, and Diefenbaker sprang ahead of them, revelling in the snow. Kowalski paused to turn and look at the cabin.
"Y'know, Fraser, uh… you and Vecchio. You did a pretty good job."
Fraser nodded. "We did." A smile spread across his lips. "We certainly did."
Ray closed the door, and they moved on to their next destination.
There, stood next to the door, was a rack where three axes rested.
One had the initials B.F etched into the hilt.
The other S.R.K.
And the third, which Fraser had only just finished that morning, had the initials R.V.
Because now Benton Fraser had three axes.
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(A/N: Let me just set the record straight. I love 'Call of the Wild'. Everything about it. How could I look on Benton's goodbye to his father and not think 'this was a great episode'? Everything was perfect except for the lack of closure on the Fraser/Ray Vecchio front.
Considering the amount of focus they put on the relationship in episodes like 'Letting Go' and 'North', it seemed a waste to simply have Fraser say 'my ex-partner went and opened a bowling alley'. Not that that's not a wonderful way to end Vecchio's story. I just would have liked some closure between Fraser and Ray.
Now, I've read elsewhere that David Marciano (the actor who plays Ray Vecchio) suggested Fraser and Ray having a phone conversation that mirrored the one in 'Burning Down the House' at the end of the episode, which I thought was a wonderful idea.
But, since it didn't happen, I really wanted to give a bit more closure to Ray and Fraser's relationship, and how they're still the best of friends, even if they're countries apart. I also didn't want to short change Kowalski either, since his friendship with Fraser is just as valid, if not more so.
I'd like to thank Cybersyd for the transcription of Ray and Fraser's phone conversation from 'Burning Down the House'. I haven't seen that episode in some time, and couldn't find a quote for it anywhere. Also, thanks to the BBC's Due South site, where I got the quote for Ray and Fraser's conversation in 'Call of the Wild, Part 1'.
Anyway, review!)