RATED PG
Alliance owns these characters, and I make no legal claim to them by writing this story. It is written for entertainment purposes, and no money will be made.
This is for my wonderful friend Cheryl.
TENSION
Benny sighed as he walked up the stairs to the apartment. He was tired. There was a big conference and reception coming up with several top members of the RCMP, and Inspector Thatcher had been driving everyone in the Consulate very hard getting ready for it.
He was tired from working 12 hour days, he was tired from the stress of trying to coordinate dozens of small details, and he was tired of having Inspector Thatcher take her stress and nervousness out on him.
Worst of all, he had barely seen Ray in more than a week. If they didn't live together, he probably wouldn't have seen him at all. Ben got home in time to have a quick late-night dinner and then fall into bed next to Ray; and he was usually up and out the door before Ray awoke in the morning.
He entered the apartment to find Ray sitting on the couch watching a baseball game, Diefenbaker curled up at his feet. Dief looked up as Ben entered, then ran over to him, his tail wagging excitedly. Ben scratched Dief behind the ears and gave him a thorough petting, then walked into the living room. "Hello, Ray."
"Hi Benny. I thought you'd be home before now."
There was an edge in Ray's voice, and Benny winced. He had told Ray he would try to be home earlier tonight, and he had tried, but Inspector Thatcher had not been receptive to his wishes.
"I'm sorry, Ray. I did think I'd be able to be home earlier, but there was a problem with the travel arrangements, and I had to get that straightened out, as well as all my other duties."
"It's interesting how your time system works, Fraser. You tell me you'll be home early, and you get here at 10:30; later than you've been all week."
"I wanted to leave earlier, Ray. It just wasn't possible."
"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be possible for you to put your lover ahead of the Canadian Government, would it?"
"Ray, be fair. There are a lot of occasions when you work long hours, and I never complain about that."
"Yeah? At least when I'm working those long hours, I'm not doing paper work and lap-dog duties. I'm doing real police work. Work that really matters."
Ben just stared at Ray for a few more seconds, then walked into the bedroom.
As he changed his clothes and hung up his uniform, he tried not to think about Ray's words; tried not to let them hurt. He knew that Ray was just lashing out because he was annoyed with him; and he had reason to be annoyed. But the words still stung.
Ben had some time ago given up caring what the RCMP thought of him. They had never understood him or his methods, and had always discounted his results. But he did care what Ray thought about him. He cared very much. Ray's opinion meant everything to him, and if he really felt that way...
He had just closed the closet door when he heard Ray enter the bedroom; and a few seconds later he felt Ray's arms encircle him from behind.
"I'm sorry, Benny," Ray whispered. "That was a stupid, shitty thing to say."
Ben closed his eyes and swallowed, then shrugged. "It's only the truth, Ray."
Ray's arms tightened around him, and he kissed Benny on the back of the neck. "No, it's not. Not the whole truth, anyway. If the RCMP is too stupid to put the talents of one of their best police officers to use, that's the Chicago PD's gain."
He gave Ben a quick squeeze. "Maybe that's why I'm so cranky. With you being kept hostage in the Consulate all week, I've had to handle my cases all by myself. It sucks."
"Oh Ray," Ben said, turning to face him. "You never needed my help solving cases."
"Yeah? Without crawling through the sewers and dumpsters of Chicago, and inspecting every rodent we find, who knows what my arrest rate would be?"
Ray smiled at Benny, asking forgiveness, and Benny smiled back, giving it.
"But Benny," Ray sighed, "I really hate the way Thatcher takes advantage of you. She knows you're not going to stand up to her, stand up for yourself; and she uses it, making you work all these insane hours."
"Everyone at the Consulate is working hard to get this conference together, Ray."
"Oh?" Ray raised an eyebrow skeptically. "When you left tonight, was anyone else in the Consulate?"
Ben flushed and looked away.
"Yeah, I thought so," Ray said. "Did you eat any dinner?"
"Yes," Ben nodded. "I ordered in Chinese food around 8:30."
"Good," Ray smiled. "Come on, there's a perfectly good baseball game going to waste." He took Benny's hand and led him into the living room, and they sat on the couch to watch the game.
About an inning and a half had passed when Benny looked over at his lover. "Ray?"
Ray looked up, and he saw that Ben was smiling at him, and his eyes were sparkling. "Yes, Benny?"
"Your lap looks most inviting."
"Well be my guest," Ray grinned.
Ben smiled happily and lay down, curling up on the couch with his head in Ray's lap. The two men sighed simultaneously, then laughed. Ray lightly stroked Benny's back, then his hand stilled. "You feel really tense, Benny. You want a back rub?"
"Mmmm, yes please," Ben sighed.
Ray smiled and began rubbing and massaging Benny's back.
When the game ended a few innings later, neither man knew the final score, because they had both fallen asleep on the couch.
THE END
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