Getting into the Serge
by Innusiq

Francesca had only ever been in his apartment on two prior occasions. The first time was when - well the first time she didn’t like to dwell upon that catastrophe or the look on his face her presence seemed to cause. There was just something that made it a big turn off for her when Fraser stared at her as if he was about to become road kill. Her second visit to the apartment was for the safety of her life when Charles Carver was out to get any and everyone associated with her brother. Francesca believed she acted like a star struck fool that evening. She couldn’t even remember the conversation that took place between them over dinner but she knew somewhere in-between his arrival home from work and the arrival of the fire engines, she had stuck her foot in her mouth.

This time, this time was going to be different. This time she would present her case and Fraser would have no other choice but to submit to her because they were meant to be. He was naive in love, that was the only explanation she could come up with to rationalize why he hadn’t declared his love for her yet. Francesca knew she would have to be the one to make the first move or they would remain in this stalemate for the rest of their lives.

Smiling to herself, Francesca turned the knob of the door she already knew would be unlocked and entered the Spartan apartment. It hadn’t changed too much from the last time she had been there. Fraser had removed the curtains she supplied him with and any other "reminder" that she had left behind for that matter. ‘He probably didn’t want to be reminded of what he thought he couldn’t have,’ Francesca rationalized. "Men," she muttered. Francesca knew he was better than any other man she had ever known or dated but in the end, he was a man just the same and against any hint of femininity in his home.

Francesca knew Fraser was out because she had seen him leave the apartment building to take his wolf for a midnight walk from her crouched position in her car. She had but minutes to prepare for his return and she would use every one she could get. After Fraser was out of sight, Francesca hurriedly walked up to Fraser’s apartment and even though she planned this meeting, there really wasn’t any plan. The first time she had done this, the plan was too forward, too brazen. Spontaneity was her plan this time and now that she was here, her not planned plan needed to be implemented. Step number one required candles.

Francesca walked over to Fraser’s kitchen cupboard and retrieved the candles she remembered seeing from her last visit. She was startled by the number of candles the man actually had but he was a Mountie - prepared for everything including providing light for the entire building should there be a black out. That was her Fraser, plain and simple. He was always so thoughtful and so courteous. She loved him because of that.

After laying a handful of candles on the kitchen table, Francesca headed towards the closet to grab a blanket, step number two. When she opened the door, one thing caught her attention in the light afforded her from the street and she was mesmerized by it.

The red serge uniform coat was a beautiful thing to behold, especially on such a beautiful man. Reaching out, she ran a hand up and then down the breast of the coat and it sent shivers down her spine. She could only imagine him in it as she did that. Before she knew what she was doing, Francesca removed the coat from its hanger and pulled it on over her own clothing.

The coat was oversized on her small frame but that didn’t stop her from buttoning it up fully. She was practically swimming in the garment and when she pulled the collar up to her nose, taking a deep breath, she could smell Fraser in the fabric. He had been wearing the serge just a few hours ago and it still smelled like him. She was in heaven.

A quiet rustling in the small apartment caused Francesca to freeze in her spot, cursing herself over the fact that she neglected to turn on any kind of light, judging the apartment by the street lights and her memory alone. Francesca prayed the building didn’t have a rat infestation.

Quickly, Francesca removed the serge uniform coat, returning it to the hanger that seemed assigned to it and before closing the door, she took note of the suits also hanging in the closet. Francesca couldn't ever remember seeing Fraser in a suit. Reaching up, Francesca turned on the light and was shocked to find that there were six of her brother’s suits hanging perfectly next to the Mountie’s uniform. When she looked down towards the floor, next to the Mountie’s boots where three pairs of her brother’s shoes.

At first she thought that was odd but quickly remember the habit Fraser had of ruining Ray’s suits and assumed that they were "spares" incase a case would happen to get a bit messy. Her brother was so particular about his suits.

Francesca turned the light out and shut the closet door. Turning, she headed towards the kitchen in order to turn a light on and in the process, she tripped. "Damnit!" The exclamation was out before she could stop it.

Reaching down in the dark, Francesca picked up what she had tripped over and carried it into the kitchen. She turned on the light and saw the offending object. It was a pair of pants; men's pants; designer Armani pants. They could have been Fraser’s if Francesca hadn’t seen her brother wearing them that morning. She had forgotten about the noise that she heard earlier until she heard it again.

Francesca set the pants down on a kitchen chair as she passed it and headed in the direction of that noise. It was coming from the bedroom area and when she was standing a foot away from Fraser’s bed, her mouth dropped open in shock.

There, in "her" Mountie’s bed was her brother. Of course he could’ve had a hard day and Fraser, being the nice person he was, was just letting him sleep there that night. They were best friends after all. But what didn’t add up was the fact that her brother was sleeping in Fraser bed and from what she could see, he was naked.

Unbeknownst to Francesca, Ray wasn’t sleeping soundly. Ray was only dozing in and out of consciousness, resting, waiting for Fraser to return so that they could return to what they were doing before the wolf interrupted. The wolf had horrible timing.

The feeling of eyes upon him had Ray thinking that maybe during one of his sessions of dozing, he had missed hearing Fraser come in. Opening his eyes, they immediately honed in on the ones looking at him and they weren't Fraser's.

"Frannie?" Even though he was aware of his surroundings, Ray was still a bit groggy and confused by his sister's presence.

"Francesca?" Fraser’s voice came from the open door.

Francesca turned to meet Fraser’s eyes and this time it was she that had the look squirrels get right before they are hit. The feeling in her stomach wasn’t any better either.

Diefenbaker sensed the tension in the room and made a beeline for the kitchen table.

"Francesca, what are you doing here?" Fraser asked as he closed his apartment door.

Francesca was speechless. First, to have been caught in Fraser’s apartment and second to have found a naked man in his bed – those reasons could render anyone speechless. What didn’t help matters was the fact that the naked man in "her" Mountie’s bed was her own brother. She looked at Fraser, then back at Ray and then back to Fraser.

Uncomfortable with the situation, Fraser’s eyesight moved to the floor and he absentmindedly rubbed his eyebrow with his thumb. "Ah . . . Francesca . . . "

"Please tell me what it looks like is going on here is not really going on here."

This time it was Fraser who was speechless.

"Fraser!?!" Her shrill voice was an octave louder than necessary.

Francesca turned back and glared at her brother. "How could you?"

Finally, the meaning of the situation was dawning on Ray’s groggy brain. "Shit," Ray said the curse out loud.

This was not supposed to happen. Ray moved to the side of the bed until he remembered he wasn’t wearing anything but the blanket that covered him. He cursed again. "Shit, where are my pants."

Fraser was about to tell Ray approximately where he remembered leaving them earlier that night but Francesca beat him to that.

Francesca moved back into the kitchen area, grabbed the pants in question and threw them at Ray. "Here!" The anger in her voice couldn’t be missed.

Ray slipped his pants on as discreetly as possible then found a T-shirt, whether it was his or Fraser’s it didn’t really matter, and put that on as well. Turning his attention to his sister, he asked the same question Fraser had asked. "Frannie, what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that very question." Her tone indicated to him that she believed he had done something terribly wrong but that just wasn’t the case.

Ray’s anger chose his next course of action. "Well, Frannie, I would think that was obvious."

Francesca’s mouth opened and closed a few times with no sound coming out. Finally she huffed and said, "You’re disgusting . . . you’re both . . . disgusting . . . " and in tears she rushed passed Fraser and out the door.

Fraser had turned as she passed and watched the door shut behind her. "Oh dear."

Defeated, Ray concurred Fraser’s thought. "Oh dear is right."

Fraser turned to look at Ray, searching his face for any clue on how this situation was effecting him but Ray seemed rather calm for what had transpired between the three of them. "Ray . . ."

Ray shrugged his shoulders. "I guess she didn’t expect me to be here," he commented as he walked over to Fraser, pulling him into an embrace.

Ray could only assume that the lack of the Riv’s presence parked outside the apartment building was the only reason Francesca was unaware of his own presence. How was she to know the Riv was in the shop and he was driving a car from the motor pool?

"No, I guess she didn’t." After a moments pause, Fraser asked, "Why was she here, Ray?"

"I don’t know. You should be thankful she didn’t run off with the serge as a keepsake." It was a joke but it got a serious response.

Fraser’s eyes widened. He turned his head, looking towards the closet and then back at Ray. "She wouldn’t . . . would she?"

Shaking his head, Ray laughed. "Nah," but he was really thinking, "Oh yeah."

The End