Because sometimes they just grab you and won't let go. :)
Gen, but feel free to add your own F/K subtext as necessary.
Need to Know
by Beth H
© May 2006
"Come on, Frase...we gotta go."
Ray was halfway back to the Goat before he realized he was only hearing one set of footsteps. He stopped short, frowned, then turned around, only to see Fraser standing just as he'd left him: looking like a statue in front of the Canadian Consulate.
"Hey," he called. "The Lieu's waiting! I don't know about you, but I do not want Welsh getting on my...."
"Good morning, Detective Vecchio! And how are we this fine spring morning?"
Ray shut his eyes and shook his head; how could Turnbull always sound so freaking cheerful so damned early in the morning?
"Were you trying to introduce yourself to Constable Mulrooney?" Turnbull asked. "That's very kind of you, but of course...."
"Constable what?"
"Mulrooney," Turnbull replied, rubbing the side of his nose with his index finger.
"Mulrooney?"
"Yes, Sir. Constable Mulrooney, who has recently transferred in from the Halifax Detachment."
"Okay, Turnbull, what the fuck is...."
"Ah ah ah, Detective. Language!" Turnbull smiled politely. "Remember that you're on Canadian soil now, and....."
Ray took two steps backward and one more step down off the curb.
"There," he said from the gutter. "Now that I'm back in Chicago, are you going to tell me what the fuck...."
"It's....can I be assured of your discretion, Detective Vecchio?" asked Turnbull quietly.
"Can you...yeah, I can be discreet," Ray said, with more than a hint of exasperation in his voice.
Turnbull nodded, then drew closer to Ray.
"Constable Fraser is...undercover," he whispered.
"What?"
"Shhh! You assured me that...."
"Yeah, yeah...discretion is my middle name," Ray said, then turned back to look at Fraser, who was still standing silently in front of the Consulate.
"Are you telling me that Fraser's undercover as another Mountie?"
Turnbull clapped his hands together. "Exactement! Constable Mulrooney."
"And the Ice Queen's got him....standing guard duty?"
"Yes, Inspector Thatcher has assigned Constable Mulrooney to guard duty," Turnbull said, then leaned in conspiratorially. "To establish Constable Fraser's cover."
"I don't suppose you got any idea why Fra...Mulrooney's been brought here from...uh...Halifax."
"Not at all, Detective. It's all quite hush hush, as I understand it."
Ray sighed.
"So...no more liaison, huh?"
"Oh," Turnbull said with a frown. "Haven't I given you the memo yet?"
"What memo?"
"The memo saying that your new liaison is Constable...."
"Mulrooney."
"Precisely."
"Hey, Mulrooney!" Ray said, jingling his keys in his hand. "Daylight's burning, and the lieutenant's waiting."
"Be right with you, Detective," Fraser replied, then turned toward Turnbull. "Constable...ah, Turnbull, was it?"
"Yes, Constable Mulrooney?" Turnbull replied.
"Would you be so good as to take over here so that I might accompany Detective Vecchio?"
"Come on, Mulrooney," Ray called. "We got an international incident brewing."
Fraser frowned. "I don't recall a briefing about any internat...."
"The international incident I'm going to start if I don't get a cup of coffee before we go see Welsh."
"Ah. Understood, Ray," Fraser said, then his eyes widened in alarm. "Vecchio. Detective Vecchio. Detective Ray Vecchio. I didn't mean to be excessively familiar when we've only just met. Although, you...."
"Just get in the car, Mulrooney."
"Will do," Fraser said briskly as he opened the door of the GTO.
"Canadians," Ray muttered.