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

[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*