"Sure enough, this number belongs to Stonesbury, it's his home phone number in Juneau." Ray tapped the note Fraser had taken the day before. The three professional investigators had found the link necessary to tie Stonesbury and Mark Gordon together. Wm. Robert Devane and his brother Jason, aka, Lunkhead, had sang like canaries when questioned about Stonesbury. The case was over and there was ample proof to convict all four kidnappers.

"That's great." Maggie's broad satisfied grin made Ray's heart beat hard as he studied her for a moment.

"So, what's for lunch, Dad?" Ben asked, scratching Diefenbaker's head gently as he sat in the lieutenant's office.

"Lunch, ah, yes, what would you like?" The mountie asked, looking at Ray and Maggie.

"Chinese." They spoke in unison. Everyone in the office laughed.

"Then Chinese it is." Benton collected his Stetson from the hat rack and led the way out of the squad room. A fresh breeze blew across the mountie's face as he walked purposefully down the street, friends and family in tow. Diefenbaker and Aurora zigzagged all across the sidewalk, sniffing anything and everything, Dief hiking a leg to mark his territory. Ray and Maggie walked in the rear, their fingers lacing together.

"Dad, do you think you'll ever go back to Canada?" Ben asked as he crossed the street heading toward the mountie's favorite restaurant.

"No, I don't suppose I will, Ben, why do you ask?" Fraser studied his son's expression as he waited on Ray and Maggie to cross the street.

"Because I like it here, in Chicago." The boy shrugged, finally feeling as if he had a home and someone he could count on.

"As do I, Ben, as do I." Fraser laid a strong hand on his son's shoulder for a moment. It wasn't a hug, but it might as well have been, Ben felt the connection anyway.

"Do you think they'll ever get married, Dad?" The boy grinned as he watched Ray wink at Maggie mischievously.

"Yes, very soon perhaps, Ray bought her a ring a few months ago, he hasn't told me specifically that he has, but what other use would he have for a diamond engagement ring?" Fraser spoke low, so as not to alert either of them.

"Maggie will probably say yes." Ben observed, he hoped she would. He'd been around her long enough to know that Ray made her happy. The boy hoped that someday he would see his mother and father happy like that, even if it wasn't with each other.

"We'll call Victoria, um, your mother later today if you'd like." Fraser offered, his train of thought parallel to Ben's.

"Yeah, I'd like to, she'll worry until she hears me for herself." Ben stared down at his feet, wishing she weren't so far away.

"I spoke to her briefly last night, she sends her love." The mountie left it at what the boy needed to know for the time being.

Talking and walking, the group entered the small, Chinese restaurant and waited to be seated. The ancient lady who usually waited on Ray and Fraser was overwhelmed to see them with other people. Her eyes lit up behind her thick, Coke bottle glasses lenses.

"You brought whole family this time, good." She pointed them toward a small dining area in the back where they could sit and spread out.

"Yes, Ma'am, I brought my sister and my son." Fraser introduced the two, new members of their party with pride. He and Maggie both wore their red, serge uniforms while Ben wore jeans and a red t-shirt and Ray wore dress slacks and a button down shirt. It was an odd looking group, but Fraser considered them a family. He wished his father could be there to see them all together. Somehow he knew the old mountie wasn't far away, just out of sight.

Waiters brought a feast to the table for the four patrons and fixed take-out for Dief and Aurora. Ray and Ben were the only two who requested flatware. Maggie and Benton maneuvered their chopsticks as deftly as any native Chinese ever could. Ben stared in amazement when he heard his dad order for them in Mandarin Chinese as easily as he could have in English.

"Wow, Dad, how many languages do you speak?" The boy asked, his green eyes wide in excitement and wonder. Fraser leaned forward, his brows knit momentarily in thought.

"Six and a few dialects of the indigenous tribes." Ben looked at Ray as if to ask, "Is he for real?"

"Yeah, it's kinda like working with a walking Encyclopedia Britannica dressed in red sometimes." The lieutenant just smiled and took another drink of his Dr. Pepper.

"I thought Aunt Maggie was the only one like that." Ben teased, a twinkle in his green eyes.

"Hey, that's not fair, teaming up on me, help me out here, Benton." She nudged her brother in the shoulder as she laughed. It felt good to have someone to banter with, besides Aurora.

"They do have a point, Maggie." Fraser stated matter-of-factly.

"Apparently you haven't heard yourself lately, Benton Fraser." Ray laughed out loud when Maggie turned the table on him.

After lunch...

"Maggie, would you take a ride with me tonight, after work?" Ray asked, dragging his feet so that he wouldn't be overheard. She looked up into his gray-blue eyes, puzzled at his mysterious attitude.

"Yes, what time should I expect you?" The lady mountie felt Ray's hand go clammy in hers.

"How's seven sound, we can, uh, we can get some dinner and uh, we'll figure it out then, OK." He tried not to stutter, a sure sign that he was nervous. Maggie just nodded.

"Ray, you'll be late, the commissioner is expecting you at one-thirty." Fraser called from the opposite side of the street.

"Yeah, I'll be there." Then he muttered a few unmentionable things the commissioner could do as he took Maggie's hand. He really felt chaffed, having to report his every move to someone who shuffled papers and kissed asses for a living. Ray didn't know how dirty the job would be when he took it. Lt. Welsh hadn't made a big deal of it when he retired. Sometimes Ray felt like hunting down his old boss and giving him a piece of his mind for leaving him to the wolves.

Scene Break

Fraser took the number out of his desk drawer and began dialing. Ben sat in the stiff, metal chair across the desk from his dad, eager to talk to his mother, despite being an oh-so-cool, fourteen year old boy.

"Yes, may I speak to Victoria Metcalf please?" The guard Fraser spoke too sounded unenthusiastic about his job as he put the mountie on hold. Ten minutes later came the voice that had changed his life irrevocably.

"Benton." Even with one word, she brought out a response in him that no woman ever had.

"Hello, Victoria, I have Ben with me and he would like to speak with you." Fraser took a deep breath and kept his tone even. The boy took the phone eagerly, glad to be able to talk to her without a dozen kids running around.

"Hi, Mom, I'm here with Dad at the consulate." He listened carefully, appreciating the trouble Benton had gone to to get her on the phone.

"Yeah, I call him Dad, we're getting along alright." Ben rolled his eyes as he sat on the stiff chair, talking to his worried mother. "I was scary, but I knew Dad would come through for me, that's what he's good at right." Fraser winced at his son's words. He hadn't been able to come through for Victoria. Still, together they'd done one thing right, and he was sitting before him, living and breathing. Robert Fraser's words from the previous night came back to him. "He's a good boy, Benton, he'll be just fine." Lost in thought, Fraser didn't hear Ben at first.

"Dad, she wants to talk to you, I'm going to go talk to Turnbull, OK." the boy handed the receiver to him and walked out, Diefenbaker following him.

"Yes, Victoria." Benton took a deep breath and closed his eyes, imagining he could see her, feel her, with him.

"Benton, is he really alright, tell me the truth." She asked softly. He could hear the sadness in her voice as he sat behind the desk, alone.

"Ben is fine, Victoria." He wouldn't say that he was the one who came through it all on pins and needles.

"How are you, you sound different." The connection was clear, Benton could imagine he heard her breathing softly on the other end of the line. He wanted to be able to see her, to look into her brown eyes with their green and gold flecks and to smell her subtle, flowered perfume.

"I am different, Victoria." Benton spoke softly, his words truer than he knew. Ben had changed him. The mountie had a whole new perspective to look out from.

"He made me different too, just not as much as he deserves." A crack in her voice told him that she had been crying.

"I'd like it if Ben stayed with me here in Chicago, I'd like the opportunity to get to know him." The mountie thought back to his own childhood and the infrequent visits his father would make to his grandparents' house. He didn't want to be an absentee father.

"That would be great, Benton, I'm happy you feel that way, I'll sign whatever paperwork it takes, just send it to me." Victoria put her hand over the phone but he could still hear the sob in her throat. As badly as he wanted to, Benton couldn't help her.

"I'll have it taken care of soon, Victoria," Fraser hesitated, unsure of what to say exactly. He smoothed one eyebrow with his thumb as he let the words surface, "Victoria, I'm glad he," He swallowed before proceeding, "I'm glad Ben is ours." Benton's voice sounded stronger than he felt. The gap between them was like a jagged precipice he felt ever day.

"He's the best thing either of us ever did isn't he." She chuckled.

"Yes, he is, Victoria."

"Benton, they say I have to get off the phone, I'll call as soon as I can, tell Ben I love him." Tears gathered in the mountie's green eyes as he heard the dial tone.

"I love you." The mountie whispered to the dead phone in his hand.

On the other end of the line, in a gray cubicle Victoria sat in a metal folding chair, both hands covering her face as she sobbed. A bland faced, female guard set a box of tissues on the desk beside her and stepped back. She'd heard the cracking voice the inmate had said, "I love you, Benton." in and couldn't hold her indifference any longer.

After a few minutes Victoria pulled herself together and sat up straight. She knew she couldn't be seen on the block with tears in her eyes. The other inmates would take her weakness and use it against her.

"I'm ready to go back." She saw the guard nod and together they were released to go back to Victoria's cell. She lay down on her bunk and hid her face in the pillow, thinking of what might have been had she been the mother Ben deserved. All she had to give him now was her love and support.