due South snippet: "Visitation"

[luzula]

Title: Visitation
Characters: Benton and Caroline Fraser, gen
Rating: G
Prompt: sign
Length: 299 words
Summary: Fraser has an unexpected visit.
Notes: This is an AU for "Gift of the Wheelman". Thanks to primroseburrows for the beta!


Fraser frowned as he skimmed the pages of his father's journal, as if they contained some sort of sign that would help him solve his current case.

"Are you reading Bob's journals?"

"Yes, I...what?" Fraser turned, to see a redhaired woman in the back seat. She smiled, and something in that smile knocked him sideways. He knew who she was, but the shock of it was vast enough that the memory escaped him at first. He sat very still.

"Ben," she said, and moved her hand to touch his. It passed right through him.

"Mom?" he said tentatively. "Why are you here?"

Caroline Fraser's smile now was more like a grin. "Bob wanted to come, but I told him he'd had his chance when he was alive."

"Is there any insanity in our family?"

"Not on my side. I won't answer for the Fraser side, though."

Fraser scrubbed his hands over his eyes. "How..."

She shook her head. "I have no idea. Only thing I know is, I took my chance when I could. Now, tell me. How are you? What city is this?"

Fraser opened his mouth and closed it, stumped by the impossibility of the first question. How could he possibly sum up his life since he was six? He answered the latter question instead. "Chicago."

"You live in the States?" she said, and turned suddenly translucent. Biting her lower lip, she steadied a little. "I'm sorry, I can't quite control this."

Her insubstantial hand reached for his again. She was fading. "Ben, I hope I can come back, but if I can't, I want you to know that I love you."

She was gone, and Ben sat in the front seat, stunned.

For now, please comment at the LJ entry.

Comments

[ariastar.livejournal.com]

...There needs to be a whole novel of this. Yesterday. <3

[luzula]

Hee, thanks. That's what my beta said, too, but I don't think I'm going to write it, because reworking canon around this would take a lot of work. For example, "Gift of the Wheelman" is so geared towards father issues.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Bwah. We're officially ORGANIZING. Even if you're not gonna write it. ;)

[plotbunniofdoom]

Oh! So wonderful! And I agree with the first comment. :)

[luzula]

Yay, thank you! : )

[inathunderstorm.livejournal.com]

Awww this was really good! Poor Fraser. ::pets him gently::

[luzula]

Thank you! I kind of think it would be a bigger shock for him to see Caroline than it was to see Bob.

And I love that icon.

[mizface.livejournal.com]

Ooh this makes me want MORE!!! Maybe, if reworking the series canon is too much (and I'm contemplating an AU of my own that would do that, so I get that it's intriguing/overwhelming simultaneously), then a visit from time to time in certain eps? maybe in ones that Bob wasn't in?

I'd love to hear what she was to say about Ms Fraser!

Really really lovely piece.

[luzula]

Hey, thanks! And hmm, I do kind of like the idea of Caroline giving Fraser advice on crossdressing. *g*

[(Anonymous)]

Come back, Caroline!!

And you, young lady, you write some more of this, 'kay? *g*

[hurry-sundown.livejournal.com]

Ooops, that was me. *points up*

[luzula]

I think she will come back! And there seems to be a demand here. I might write more, but only if inspiration strikes. : )

[jesse_the_k]

Awwww.

I can just see the conflict in Ben's face.

Awww -- lovely!

[luzula]

Thank you! I'm glad it gave you vivid images.

[kill-claudio.livejournal.com]

Can I add my voice to the requests for more? This is just gorgeous. I hadn't realised how badly I wanted Fraser to see more of his mom until you wrote it.

'Gift of the Wheelman' is quite geared towards father issues, as you said, but I think this works really well for all that. And it would be interesting to see more of this along with a look at Vecchio or Kowlaski's relationship with their mothers.

[luzula]

Oh, thank you! And damn it, now I want to read this longer story, too.

I hadn't realised how badly I wanted Fraser to see more of his mom until you wrote it.

Actually, I've already written another story on a very similar theme: Missing Pages.

[pharis.livejournal.com]

That's lovely!

While I agree that there should be more (Mom! Yay!), it would, as you say, cause MAJOR changes. Even after just this snippet, Fraser having heard that firm "I love you" from a parent is going to change him. Dead!Bob skitters away from discussing their relationship, never really repairs the damage done by his absenteeism while Benton was growing up. Or rather, maybe he repairs it as much as he's capable of, but it's a far cry from this direct, clear statement. Having that solid knowledge of "Mom loves me unconditionally" is going to ... what? Make him more willing to ask for what he needs? Make him miss Canada more? (Or less?) Would Caroline prod him to move out of the Consulate and make more of a life for himself? Would she have given advice about Victoria?

Anyway, fun stuff to ponder. This would be a subtle and challenging AU!

[luzula]

Thank you! In my head, Caroline is much more emotionally direct than Bob (although it would kind of be hard to be less emotionally direct than Bob is...). I figure that if she thought she might only have one opportunity, she'd want to get the important stuff across.

And yeah, it would change things in interesting ways. Actually, I know that primroseburrows has been thinking about writing an even more far-ranging AU: what if it was Bob who died when Ben was six, rather than Caroline?

[pharis.livejournal.com]

if it was Bob who died when Ben was six, rather than Caroline

Ooooh. *ponders* Some of the emotional distance between Bob and Benton could be paralleled by an estrangement: I'm picturing, wee!Benton wants to be a Mountie and Caroline is set against it, so he does his thing and their relationship is strained throughout his young adulthood. He would still be striving to be Super-Mountie (living up to an idealized dead father not so different from living up to an absent, legendary one). But in some other ways he would be more well-rounded, maybe less odd.

What fun to play with these ideas!

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I said I was thinking about writing this? Gah, maybe I did. I know I do the 'what if' thing with it all the time. I'd need help to actually write it, though. *looks innocent*

[luzula]

Hey, sorry if I'm putting words in your mouth. Maybe you just said you were thinking about the idea of it. And hey, I would totally beta read it if you write it.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Well, if you did put words in my mouth (and I'm not sure you did--I could have actually said that), they're good words. I'd just have to figure out where to start, and all. *ponders*

[petronelle.livejournal.com]

Ohh, beautiful.

[luzula]

Thank you!

[akite.livejournal.com]

Awww...I'm a sucker for Caroline stories, but what an intriging idea! I agree, it'd be too big a job for one writer, IMO, to try to rewrite canon from Gift of the Wheelman onward, but there's nothing stopping you from dabbling here and there. *g*

[luzula]

Thank you! I'm glad you thought it was interesting.

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

I think Fraser's life would be quite different, with his Mother there to speak to him, advise him, perhaps ease a few of those abandonment issues.

[luzula]

Thanks! Yeah, I kind of want to hear more of their conversations.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

This sounds like an excellent topic for ds_meta, which has been quiet recently. :)

[leafy22.livejournal.com]

What an interesting idea! I particularly liked this part -

Fraser opened his mouth and closed it, stumped by the impossibility of the first question. How could he possibly sum up his life since he was six? He answered the latter question instead. "Chicago."

and -

"Not on my side. I won't answer for the Fraser side, though." Hee!

[luzula]

Ooh, glad you liked those bits, they were kind of my favorite ones, too. Thank you.

[nos4a2no9.livejournal.com]

This is a really cool concept, and I hope you do more with it! Also, I do so love the way you write Caroline: she's direct and practical but loving, which is exactly how I picture her.

Nice job, m'dear! Please to write more in this 'verse!

[luzula]

Thank you kindly, Nos! I might write more in it some day (but right now I am concentrating on my Fraser/Kowalski/Smithbauer porn *g*).

[akamine_chan]

"Yes, I...what?" Fraser turned, to see a redhaired woman in the back seat. She smiled, and something in that smile knocked him sideways. He knew who she was, but the shock of it was vast enough that the memory escaped him at first. He sat very still.

Oh, I love that, Luz. Wonderful job, as always.

[luzula]

Thanks, Aka! I'm glad you liked that part.

[tinzelda.livejournal.com]

This was lovely! I would love to see more - I imagine the conversations they would have would be VASTLY different from those Fraser has with his dad!

[luzula]

Thank you! I'm glad it gave you a taste for more.