Title: The Photograph
Fandom: Due South
Characters: Fraser/RayK and Dief
Rating: G
Content notes:
Word Length: 564
Written for the fan_flash works prompt: Secrets
Summary: Fraser keeps something in his hat.
AN:



The moon and stars shown down on Chicago. A cool wind blew, bringing the promise of snow. Somewhere in the city a dog howled and in the Consulate Dief joined in the symphony. As Dief howled, Fraser let the song wash over him. Dief sung of greetings and of ice and snow. Dief's eating habits might be questionable to Fraser, but Dief was still a wolf at heart.

The howling reminded Fraser of the songs of wolves which reminded him of Canada. He felt a stab of homesickness, but pushed it aside with the thought that he would go back and perhaps Ray Kowalski would go with him. Just picturing Ray's face as he watched the northern lights made Fraser smile to himself.

Fraser was sitting inside the darkened Consulate kitchen. Moonlight fell upon the kitchen table and illuminated a ceramic vase filled with yellow flowers that Dief had picked. Fraser had just finished his nightly cup of tea and was preparing for a nightly process that was becoming a ritual.

He walked into his office/bedroom and shut the door. He turned on a light and the room was bathed in yellow light. Cardboard boxes filled the room leaving very little room for Fraser's wooden chair and small cot.

Sitting his hat on top of a small table he removed and hung up his uniform. With each buckle unbuckled he felt some of the weight of responsibility lift from his shoulders. He still had a responsibility to be polite, but that was nothing new.

He put on his red long johns and revelled in the feeling of the wool against his skin. If he closed his eyes he could almost imagine that Ray was curessing him. Sometimes he wondered if Ray's touch would be slow and gentle or quick and not-so-gentle.

Picking up his hat, he carried it over to his cot and sat down. He flipped his hat over and pulled out a picture To most people it would look like a simple Polaroid, but to Fraser it was something much more special. In the picture, Ray was standing next to Fraser and Ray was wearing Fraser's hat. They were both smiling and Fraser could see love in Ray's smiling face.

The night the picture had been taken Ray had expressed that his feeling for Fraser were deeper than that of partners, much to Fraser pleasant surprise. Fraser would always remember the look of happiness and surprise on Ray's face when his feelings were returned. They shared one kiss and Fraser had laughed when Ray stubble tickled his cheek. Ray said they could only have one kiss, he had to keep his cover as just Fraser partner and friend, but one kiss was more than Fraser could have hoped for. Later, Fraser laughed even more when Dief also wanted a kiss and licked Ray's cheek.

Fraser touched the picture, it was smooth under his finger tips and put it back inside his hat.

There was no reason to hide the picture, he could just tell the truth and say that it was a picture of his partner Ray, but it was something just for himself. His body and life belonged to the RCMP. Someday after Ray's undercover work was over they would be able to express their feelings, but until then all Fraser had was a picture and the memory of a kiss.