ds_flashfiction | Out, damned plot!

HUGE thank-you to

heuradys for the awesome Ray "No" icon.

I started out trying to write something for the challenge,and I ended up with what seems to be a snippet of something much longer. Er. It's an AU. Obviously.

It's also probably obvious that it's unbetaed.

Fraser walked quickly up to the cabin. It was best that this be dealt with swiftly, before the situation deteriorated further.

His father’s voice taunted him. A little late for that, don’t you think?

He could see the firelight flickering from the windows, warm light spilling onto the snow. It looked like a Christmas card or an advertisement for hot cocoa. Welcoming. In truth, Fraser wanted to run screaming from the gentle domesticity of the cabin.

Perhaps he would get eaten by a bear in the five steps to the door.

Foolish. A damned fool in so many ways.

He opened the door and was nearly trampled by Diefenbaker. Fraser gripped his fur, taking a just a moment to look into Dief’s eyes for reassurance. Whether for himself or Diefenbaker, he wasn’t sure.

Ray was lounging next to the stove, reading a newspaper. “Fraser! I thought you’d gotten lost out there!”

Fraser smiled thinly. “Mounties don’t get lost, Ray. We merely get sidetracked.”

“Sidetracked, huh?” He gestured to the stove, where a pot of spaghetti sauce was simmering. “I hope you brought your appetite. I actually found half-decent tomatoes.”

“Ray.” His tone must have been more desperate than he realized. Ray immediately put down the newspaper and walked over to him, helping Fraser out of his coat and giving his shoulders a little squeeze.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Ray. Can we sit?”

“Sure, anything.” Ray led him over to the small couch. Fraser stared blindly into the fire.

“Fraser?”

“I need to tell you something.”

Ray stood. Fraser could see the wariness building in him. Ray drew inward and hardened, in a posture Fraser had seen many times in the city. People there often tried to simultaneously look tough and escape notice, particularly when they felt threatened. Ray had that particular look down to an art.

Fraser only wished that he were not the source of the threat.

He took a deep breath. “I fear that I haven’t been completely frank about the details of my life.”

Ray shrugged. “It’s your life.”

If Ray was shutting him down now, there was no hope to salvage the situation. He must merely go forward with the course he had set.

Fraser forced himself to look Ray straight in the eyes. “I’m married.”

Ray swayed a little, his features impossibly hardened further. “No.”

“I meant …I tried to tell you –“

Ray stared at him, seemingly frozen. He shook himself, and turned, not looking at Fraser. He slowly reached for his jacket, shrugged it on, and sauntered for the door.

Fraser tried again. “Ray, I’m sorry –“

Ray stopped suddenly and smacked his open had against the doorframe, shoulders heaving. When he spoke, his voice was tightly controlled. “Whatever. Like I said, it’s your life.”

He walked out the door.