Secrets (due South story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Secrets
Author(s):	Cara Chapel
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Due South
Relationship(s):	Fraser/Vecchio
External Links:	online here
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Secrets is a Fraser/RayV story by Cara Chapel.

Reactions and Reviews

Well, kind of Fraser/Vecchio. "Secrets" is an amazingly hot genderbender with some truly sizzling hetsex, including a detailed and lovely oral sex scene.

This is a very unusual rape recovery story, in which Ray never really recovers completely from a violent rape....

The shame, the self-loathing in his voice was thick enough to cut. But he was going to live, I was determined about that. And he would be happy again too, if I could manage it.

When I went back in, Ray was asleep, holding on to Diefenbaker for dear life. Dief was awake and looked at me with wise eyes. I patted his head. "Thank you, Dief," I said quietly - he licked my hand. I owed him Ray's life and he could make me pay as much as he wanted and I would never be able to repay him. I blew out the lamp and went to bed.

What I love about this story is the very matter-of-fact treatment of rape recovery and it's exploration of the bleak concept that sometimes severe trauma leaves such terrible scars that even love cannot completely heal the damage. You would think that this would be a terribly bleak and melancholy story but somehow I merely found it refreshingly realistic. The bravery of people who manage to keep going each day depite the terrible things life can throw at them is highlighted - and I prefer that any day to the artificial "Romeo and Juliet" hystrionics of some stories.

Yes it's a gender-bender fic but it's so well done you can't help but enjoy it. I too was sceptical of Ray Vecchio as a woman but this does it so well even using 'his' in the sex scenes as a nice touch. The title refers to all kinds of secrets from hidden desire, to hiding the truth, to hiding knowledge about the truth so I think it's apt for this prompt. And it has a happy ending too.