Title: Self-Sacrificing Honour Code Schtick
Fandom: due South
Characters: Ray Vecchio, Benton Fraser
Length: 719
Rating: Gen
Summary: Mounties are bullet proof, and their friends are fucking morons. (In which Fraser concedes that Ray might just be right about something.)





“Okay, Benny.” Ray ducked behind the wall as a bullet whizzed past, “you have to stop with this self-sacrificing honour code schtick you have going on. You’re gonna get us killed.”

“Some things are worth dying for,” Benny said, in that noble voice of his that made him sound like he was dictating a proclamation or something. These truths are self-evident, he would intone (if he could get away with it and they weren’t being shot at by a jonesing junkie with more guns than sense) Mounties are bullet proof, and their friends are fucking morons.

Okay. Maybe not that last bit.

And – what the hell? The Mountie was stepping out into the line of fire. Ray yanked Fraser by the convenient belt (Mounties came with handles at least, the serge would be a definite disadvantage in hand to hand combat now that he thought about it) and dragged him out of the line of fire.

“Ray!” Fraser had the nerve to look disappointed. “I have a duty to –”

“‘Some things are worth dying for? Some things are worth dying for?’” Ray’s voice squeaked with outrage. “Benny, you are the most annoying man in the –” he shook his head. Annoying didn’t do it justice. “Actually, no. You are insane, that’s what you are, stepping in front of bullets. You’re not even insane. There’s some whole new word for you. You are – you are - loony-toons, that’s what you are – no – you know what you are? You are –” Ray flung his hands in the air. For once, words failed him.

“I do know what I’m doing,” Fraser huffed at him. “By now he’ll have run out of bullets and –” Another bullet hissed by, this one cracking against the corner of the building. Red shards from the bricks scattered, with a stink of cordite and fireworks. Ray snapped a hand to his head. “Ow, that hit me.”

Fraser’s eyes flew wide, and he grabbed Ray by the shoulders, pressed him up against the wall.

“Oh my God, Ray!”

“What?” Ray was way beyond pissed by now. He shoved Fraser back, killing two birds with one stone as he propelled the big red idiot further out of the range of fire. For once Benny went with it, his face pale. He looked scared. Which, okay, that was a good thing, scared was good when bullets were flying, so why did Ray feel nervous? More nervous than he had been, even.

“You’re hit, Ray.”

Ray glared at him, then his anger softened. “Jeeze, Benny.” No wonder Fraser was freaked. “Not with a bullet, just bits of brick.” He didn’t mention that his head was banging like a drum. Ray removed his palm from his forehead and winced. His hand was red.

“You’re bleeding,” Fraser said like Ray hadn’t noticed.

“Nothing gets past you, Benny.” Ray shook his head, then regretted it. “Just, next time could you wait for backup?”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Ray blinked. Did Fraser just admit he’d made a mistake? That Ray was right about something? A slow smile spread across Ray’s face, he could feel it. “Wow.”

Off in the distance, the sound of sirens was approaching. Around the corner the bullets had stopped firing – the lunatic must have really run out of ammo this time. Ray and Fraser could probably go around the corner now and cuff the guy. Ray took a step forward, and Benny put a hand on his chest, pressed gently against it.

“Sit down, Ray.” Fraser’s voice was shaky as he wadded up a white handkerchief – how did he always have the right thing? – and pressed it to Ray’s head. “We’re waiting for backup.”

“We are? What about your duty to arrest the guy?”

“Someone else can do it. My duty’s here with you.”

Ray closed his eyes and grinned. “You say the sweetest things, Benny.” Fraser muttered something with a lot of consonants. He was probably swearing in Eskimo, Inuit, whatever.

That was okay, though. Maybe his head hurt, but it was worth it. For once Ray had the last word.