crack_van | "We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning" by Ignaz Wisdom

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Vecchio/Kowalski
Length: 19,500 words
Author on LJ:

ignazwisdom
Author Website: that boy needs therapy:stuff by ignaz wisdom
Why this must be read: Another classic story which the Crack Van has passed by, and one which is a veritable master-class in how to write an epic and subtle Ray/Ray fic that respects both characters, makes sharp distinctions between their personal styles, and shows their developing interdependency in the context of a tough and eventually heart-breaking case. It also lets them both get over Benton Fraser- both emotionally, and as detectives.

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"A bowling alley, Ray?" Stella demanded, three months after they bought the place, staring at him like he was stupid, which was kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stella made him feel pretty stupid. "Come on. Did you really think we'd be happy running a bowling alley?"

Ray didn't say anything, just stood awkwardly in their bedroom, hands on his hips, head bowed, watching as she folded clothes into suitcases and placed Prada suits inside garment bags. And no, he had to admit, none of them looked like the sort of thing one would wear at a bowling alley.

"I'm a lawyer; you're a detective. We were kidding ourselves. You have to realize that," she'd said, like of course he had to have realized that, of course, not like she was asking him to understand, telling him anything new, breaking some hard glassy slab of truth over his head like a piece of the wedding china they didn't have...

Ray was sick of early retirement and wanted his old job back. Kowalski must have been sick of being an unwashed, unemployed reject from Canada, and wanted his old job back. What with both of their old jobs being the same damn job, Welsh, the sadist, decided to partner them up.

Ray protested, to say the least. Kowalski threw around some swear words, and when he ran out of words he threw Welsh's stapler, which hit the wall and broke and sure as hell didn't get either of them onto the lieutenant's good side. Looked like Kowalski's months mushing around (messing around) with Fraser hadn't done anything for the Polack's anger management problem.

Welsh didn't give them any time to sit around and antagonize each other; he tossed them a case right away and put them to work. It was a good case, too, something nice and dark and ugly for them to lose themselves in, a kidnapping. They started tracking down leads and interviewing witnesses, and they had a fight about whether it was the cousin or the ex-boyfriend which almost ended in a brawl before they figured out the cousin and the ex were in it together.

So they made the arrests and knocked the two losers' heads together until they figured out where the girl was stashed, and then they rode in on their white fucking horses and rescued the damsel, and Welsh said, "Good work, gentlemen," and clapped them both on the shoulders just like Fraser had back in the Hotel California, the first time they met face to face.

Kowalski must have been thinking the same thing because he shot Ray a sullen glare and then stared at the ground for a while, not speaking. Ray watched him leave the station later, head still hanging, saying goodbye to no one, looking nothing at all like a guy who'd just solved a major case and possibly saved a woman's life.

Not that it was any of Ray's business, but he looked like a guy who still wasn't over Benton Fraser.

We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning