CHAPTER 6

"I must say Ray, it was very kind of Mr Dawson to allow us all to visit this delightful water park free of charge," Fraser looked around him at the huge water flumes and smiled, before pulling his t-shirt off over his head and folding it neatly.

"It's much better than Super Splash," Ray replied, "but I guess once all the, er, the renovations are done at that place, it'll be pretty good too, huh?"

"Indeed," agreed Fraser, "Mr Dawson was very grateful for everything we did last week, it appears he hadn't fully comprehended the seriousness of the situation, but now he has agreed to invest the extra funds in Super Splash that park will return to being the asset to Chicago that it was a few years ago." Ray nodded in agreement and then removed his own t-shirt, throwing it in a dishevelled heap on the floor.

"Hi Frase!" Francesca came over to them and stood with one hand on her hip. She was wearing a rather skimpy pink bikini and Fraser didn't quite know where to look.

"Ah, Francesca, I'm so glad you could join us," Fraser cleared his throat as soon as he'd finished speaking.

"Oh I wouldn't have missed this for the world," smiled Francesca, looking Fraser up and down as he stood there in his swimming trunks. He looked so perfect and she had to resist the urge to reach out and touch him. "I'm going for a swim, will you join me?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"Ah, Ray and I were going to ride the green flume first," explained Fraser, thankful for the excuse.

"The green one?" replied Francesca, surprised, "I don't think I could ride that one, it looks kinda scary."

"It's nothin'," laughed Ray, "it's gonna be fun, right buddy?" Fraser nodded and smiled at his partner's new found confidence in the water. Francesca watched them as they walked off, admiring the sight of Fraser's perfectly toned body as he moved.

"Eyes off," Francesca jumped as the voice of Inspector Meg Thatcher hissed loudly in her ear.

"Oh, hi Inspector," she said, "I was just, um, I was..."

"I know what you were doing," snapped Meg.

Francesca turned to look at her. "Can you blame me?" she said, incredulously.

Meg, of course, couldn't take her eyes off Fraser either. "No," she replied curtly.

As they walked through the water park towards the huge flumes, all four of which were much larger than the two at Super Splash, Fraser was giving Ray a pep talk. "Remember, when you emerge from the chute, your momentum will take you deep under the water and all you need to do..."

"Fraser, I'll be OK!" Ray interrupted him.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Fraser asked him cautiously.

"Yeah buddy," replied Ray with a grin. "C'mon, don't ya think I can do it?"

Fraser smiled. "Of course I do," he said.

"I never thought I'd, y'know, enjoy this so much," shrugged Ray. "Kinda feel I've been missin' out on somethin' now." Fraser laughed.

Just then, they heard Jake calling out to them and they walked over to where he was sitting with Sarah and baby Bethany. "Hey," he said, "this is an amazing place isn't it." Fraser and Ray nodded and Fraser reached out to take Bethany from Sarah, pulling the puffin face as he lifted her into the air.

"Look, she's smilin' at ya," grinned Ray.

"It's just gas Ray," replied Fraser, "she's far too young to be smiling properly yet."

"Tell them about the your new job Jake," Sarah urged and Fraser raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Jake took a deep breath and grinned. "Head lifeguard," he said, "at this place. I'll still be responsible for the staff and actually I do really enjoy that, but it means I can get back to watching the water now and again. I've missed doing that so much. I think Mr Dawson was a bit disappointed when I said I didn't want to run Super Splash when it reopens, but I talked to him and then he offered me this. He's OK, once you get to know him."

Fraser took his hand and shook it warmly. "Congratulations," he said.

"Yeah," agreed Ray. "Now come on Fraser, I want to go down this chute."

xXx

Detective Jack Huey looked at his partner in despair as they headed for the whirlpool. "What the hell are you wearing?" he asked.

"Um, swim trunks," replied Dewey, like he'd just been asked the most stupid question in the world.

Huey laughed. "No no no," he said shaking his head. "These are swim trunks," he continued, indicating the bottle green pair he was wearing himself, "but those are underwear."

Dewey's face fell. "Oh," he said quietly, "do you think they're a bit tight?"

xXx

"You alright?" Fraser looked concerned as he helped Ray out of the swirling water.

"Yeah! Wow!" Ray was almost beside himself with excitement. "I'm gonna do it again!"

Fraser couldn't help laughing. He was so proud of the way his partner had overcome his fear of the water in such a short space of time, but before Ray could have his second go on the flume, they heard a shout. "There he is!" They turned to see Chelsea running towards them with two of her friends. Ray braced himself for another round of beautiful girls admiring Fraser in his swim trunks, but he was completely shocked when they ran straight past his partner and Chelsea grabbed hold of his forearm. "This is Ray," Chelsea beamed, "he's the one who saved my life."

"Hi Ray," giggled the other two girls. "Chelsea told us all about you, you were so brave," one of them said, pawing at his other arm. Ray blushed and looked to Fraser for help, but Fraser was enjoying the moment far too much to interrupt.

"Oh Ray, when you were giving me the kiss of life," Chelsea went on, smiling up adoringly into his eyes, "I could feel your lips against mine and I just knew I had to live." She sighed.

"Er, but you were unconscious?" said Ray, trying to back away from them. Fraser started to think that maybe he should intervene now as Ray was looking decidedly uncomfortable, but before he could think of a reasonable excuse, Diefenbaker came bounding up to them.

"Dief!" exclaimed Fraser, "what in heaven's name are you doing here?" Dief replied with a bark. "But I thought you hated the water?" Fraser continued. "Ever since that incident in Prince Rupert Sound..." Dief interrupted him with another bark. "No it was not my fault," replied Fraser rather indignantly. Dief whined and Fraser shook his head in disgust. "Don't embarrass yourself," he sighed.

"Oh he's adorable!" exclaimed one of Chelsea's friends.

"So cute!" agreed the other young woman and the three of them turned their attentions to the wolf, giving a thankful Ray the chance to slip away, making a mental note as he did so to buy Dief an extra doughnut at the next available opportunity.

They started to make their way back round to the steps of the giant flume when they heard screaming and turned to see Francesca in the water, shouting and waving her arms about. "Help! Frase!" Fraser spun on his heels, ran straight to the side of the pool and dived in. He quickly reached Francesca and supported her under her arms. "Cramp," she managed to splutter.

"It's alright, I've got you," said Fraser as he swam with her to the side of the pool. Ray helped her out and sat her on the floor, throwing a towel around her shoulders as Fraser climbed out after her. "Which leg?" he said.

"Um," Francesca hesitated, before replying, "this one."

Ray rolled his eyes. Oh buddy, he sighed to himself, how could a man who's always so acutely aware of everything going on around him be so oblivious when it comes to the attentions of the opposite sex? Unless he wasn't as oblivious as he made out...and a tiny grin formed at the corners of Ray's lips as things slowly began to click into place.

Fraser knelt at Francesca's feet, picked up her left leg and braced her foot against his chest. Then he began to massage her calf muscle. "How does that feel?" he asked.

"Oh, mmm, oh yes, good Frase," replied Francesca, as Fraser's strong hands manipulated her muscles, "that feels good, mmm, oooh, oh yes, yes!"

Fraser glanced up at Ray, who was looking decidedly less concerned than he had been a few minutes ago. He then looked down at Francesca's foot on his chest. She had started to caress his smooth bare skin with her toes. He cleared his throat twice before speaking. "I must say Francesca," he began, "your muscle certainly does not appear to have suffered a particularly severe spasm in this instance. In fact, I'm having difficulty detecting any sign of cramp at all?"

Francesca immediately removed her foot from his chest and sat upright. "That's because you did such a great job Frase," she said quickly. She removed the towel from her shoulders and gingerly got to her feet just as Fraser was also standing up. "Here," she said, wiping his face with the corner of her towel, "look at you, you're all wet." She continued to dry the water from his body, starting with his shoulders and then down his arms before moving onto his chest. Fraser was frozen to the spot with a combination of embarrassment and fear and his eyes were wide and staring straight ahead. Francesca meanwhile was starting to have difficulty breathing, but she certainly wasn't in need of resuscitation. "Oh...there, now...let me just..." but before she could get any further down his body, Inspector Meg Thatcher appeared and snatched the towel out of her hand.

"Do you mind?" she snapped at Francesca, before glancing at Fraser with a glint in her eye. "We prefer to dry our own personnel."

Fraser just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him as now Inspector Thatcher was on her knees in front of him drying his legs with the towel, but fortunately, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lieutenant Welsh appear and wave to the Mountie. He breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness," he mumbled. "If you'll all excuse me, I need to speak to the Lieutenant."

Ray had to walk away laughing as the two women glared at each other while Fraser ran over to Welsh. Ray went to find Dief who had been left alone after Chelsea and her friends went for a swim. He picked up a towel and began to dry himself, glancing back over his shoulder as he did so to see Fraser and Welsh deep in conversation. Welsh clearly wasn't dressed to go in the water, noticed Ray. "Hey Dief," Ray began, slightly puzzled, "they were doin' that down at the station yesterday too," he said to the wolf, "what d'ya think, er, all the secrecy's about anyway?" Dief yapped. Ray looked at him and shrugged. "You're a better liar than Fraser, I'll give ya that much." He laughed a little, but it still bothered him that his best friend and his Lieutenant were obviously keeping something from him.

He didn't have to worry for long though as Fraser waved and beckoned him over to join them. "Detective," Welsh acknowledged him, holding an official looking piece of paper in his hand. "I guess you've been wondering what Constable Fraser and I have been discussing."

"Er, yeah," replied Ray, hesitantly. Fraser half smiled. He knew full well that his partner would have noticed that something had been going on.

"Well," continued Welsh, "this has been quite difficult, seeing as you are undercover. Normally there'd be a big presentation, but as everyone thinks you're Vecchio and obviously I wanted this to go on your record and not his, then I thought you wouldn't mind this slightly unorthodox approach."

Ray didn't have a clue what he was talking about. "Sir?" he said questioningly. Welsh handed him the letter and Ray glanced at a smiling Fraser with a puzzled look as he opened it. He scanned down the words on the page, but they didn't really sink in. "What...what's this?" he asked.

"It's your fourth citation Ray," explained Fraser, beaming with pride.

Ray was shocked. "Why? What for?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"For bravery Ray," replied Fraser. "You single handedly saved the life of a young woman under extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances."

"Congratulations Detective," Lieutenant Welsh stood to attention and saluted.

Ray still couldn't quite believe it. "Um, er, thanks," he said and returned the salute.

"If you gentlemen will excuse me," Welsh continued, "I need to be going. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye Lieutenant," said Fraser with a wave and Welsh headed out of the door.

Ray turned to Fraser, completely taken aback. "I was only...er, I mean, it was nothin'...I don't deserve this."

"Of course you do Ray," insisted Fraser.

"But it was stupid," continued Ray, "I should never have gone in after her, I was way outta my depth."

"That just makes it all the more brave Ray," commented Fraser.

Ray looked at his buddy and narrowed his eyes "You knew all about this?" he asked.

"It was my recommendation," Fraser explained. Then his face became suddenly serious. "I hope you're not upset with me? I hope I did the right thing?"

Ray's face finally broke into a huge grin. "Course I'm not mad at ya," he said, giving Fraser a friendly slap on the back. Then he looked down at himself. "Er, I never thought I'd be gettin' a citation dressed in swim trunks." He laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation and looked back at Fraser. "Guess I should be used to everythin' in my life bein', er, wildly bizarre by now."

Fraser shrugged. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about Ray," he said innocently.

Ray laughed and started to jog backwards. "C'mon buddy!" he called out, handing his citation letter to Francesca for safekeeping as Fraser began to follow him. "I'm goin' down that green one again, you comin'?"

"Personally Ray, I thought that the red one provided a much higher thrill level," replied Fraser, seriously, chasing after his partner.

"Freak!" Ray shouted as he started climbing the steps to the green flume two at a time.

"Thank you kindly Ray," replied Fraser, running over to the steps of the red flume.

Ray laughed at his buddy. "OK, race ya!"

THE END