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crack_van2012-02-06 08:40 pm
thursdaynext-27.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2012-02-06 08:40 pm
3:30 A.M. in Chicago, by aerye (Teen)
Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Ray Vecchio (references to Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski)
Length: 4265 words
Author on LJ: (also on DW)
Author Website: Fic on AO3
Why this must be read:
Aerye wrote the classic 9:30 to Yellowknife in late 2007 for Team Angst, and it's about as heartbreaking as you can get without someone dying. What you may not know is that she wrote a sequel early last year, with Kowalski returning to Chicago to face Vecchio. That you cannot tell she wrote these several years apart is testament to Aerye's ability to capture (and recapture) these characters. As I wrote when I first read this, they are spot-on. Vecchio with his anger over what Kowalski did to him and what he's done to Fraser. Kowalski, full of guilt over leaving one and afraid he can't make things right with the other. Even Fraser's sadness and acceptance come through, and he's not even physically present. A beautiful and yes--angsty--story, with a powerful and even hopeful ending.
“What are you doing here?” he finally asked, stupid, because he really couldn’t believe Vecchio had sat there in that shitty chair, in his perfect suit, and waited for Ray to get here.
“I've been waiting on your skinny ass,” Vecchio said. His voice didn’t give away much; he doing that quiet and close-mouthed Langoustini thing he’d nailed in Vegas, and when he did that Ray would bet Vecchio’s own mother couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “When you weren’t on the midnight flight, I checked. They said there was another one coming in from Yellowknife at three so I figured I’d wait around and see if you actually showed.”
“The bus broke down. It - “ He tried to think of some way to explain, some perfect combination of words that would show Vecchio just how hard he’d tried to get here and how it wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t made the flight and that he wanted this, he wanted him, but in the end there really wasn’t any way to do that. There wasn’t any way to make it more than it was. “It broke down.”
“Got it, Kowalski. The bus broke down.” Vecchio shrugged. “I figured it was something like that,” he said, but Ray could tell that it hadn’t been the first thought to cross his mind.
You can find 3:30 A.M. in Chicago on AO3, and please don't forget to leave feedback for the author.
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Ray Vecchio (references to Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski)
Length: 4265 words
Author on LJ: (also on DW)
Author Website: Fic on AO3
Why this must be read:
Aerye wrote the classic 9:30 to Yellowknife in late 2007 for Team Angst, and it's about as heartbreaking as you can get without someone dying. What you may not know is that she wrote a sequel early last year, with Kowalski returning to Chicago to face Vecchio. That you cannot tell she wrote these several years apart is testament to Aerye's ability to capture (and recapture) these characters. As I wrote when I first read this, they are spot-on. Vecchio with his anger over what Kowalski did to him and what he's done to Fraser. Kowalski, full of guilt over leaving one and afraid he can't make things right with the other. Even Fraser's sadness and acceptance come through, and he's not even physically present. A beautiful and yes--angsty--story, with a powerful and even hopeful ending.
“What are you doing here?” he finally asked, stupid, because he really couldn’t believe Vecchio had sat there in that shitty chair, in his perfect suit, and waited for Ray to get here.
“I've been waiting on your skinny ass,” Vecchio said. His voice didn’t give away much; he doing that quiet and close-mouthed Langoustini thing he’d nailed in Vegas, and when he did that Ray would bet Vecchio’s own mother couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “When you weren’t on the midnight flight, I checked. They said there was another one coming in from Yellowknife at three so I figured I’d wait around and see if you actually showed.”
“The bus broke down. It - “ He tried to think of some way to explain, some perfect combination of words that would show Vecchio just how hard he’d tried to get here and how it wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t made the flight and that he wanted this, he wanted him, but in the end there really wasn’t any way to do that. There wasn’t any way to make it more than it was. “It broke down.”
“Got it, Kowalski. The bus broke down.” Vecchio shrugged. “I figured it was something like that,” he said, but Ray could tell that it hadn’t been the first thought to cross his mind.
You can find 3:30 A.M. in Chicago on AO3, and please don't forget to leave feedback for the author.