ds_recsredux | Fandom Appreciation Day 2 - "Little Ray", "Luck", "One Two Three Two One"

china_shop invited us to rec three older stories for Fandom Appreciation Week. I'm on a 'Vecchio in Vegas' kick right now, so I decided to rec three shining examples of the genre.

Title: Little Ray
Author: Giulietta

mondschein1
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG
Length: 2625 words
Why I'm reccing this fic:

This story gives me chills each time I read it. The author uses some unique formatting to give us a glimpse into Ray's head in a pivotal moment during his time as Langouistini. It's utterly in character, and makes me wish that Benny was there to save him.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em -- and then beat 'em from the inside. That was the plan, or so Ray thought. Normal people can't take down a mob; the cops can't take down a mob; but mobs take down other mobs all the time. Take the rules out of the picture, and nobody can use 'em
against you, right? Then it's just who's bigger, who's faster. Everything's fair again.

Title: Luck
Author: Kat Allison

katallison
Pairing: F/V
Rating: PG
Length: 3544 words
Why I'm reccing this fic:

Kat Allison shows us what happens when Vecchio runs into Victoria Metcalf in Vegas. So plausible, I have to remind myself it's not canon.

He ducked behind a pillar and grabbed Chepo by the arm. "That woman," he muttered, pointing with his chin. "Third from the left, red silk blouse, black hair."

Chepo peered at her, then nodded respectfully. "Nice. You can sure pick 'em, boss. You want me to go invite her to join you?"

He gripped Chepo's arm harder, and the man winced. "Shut up. Go find that security guy, what's his name—"

"Baxter?"

"Have him bring her to the back. Follow him, and if she tries to run, grab her. Lonnie, you bring the car around. Both of you, get her, gag her, tie her hands up, wait for me."

They stirred, and he yanked them back. "Be careful. She'll have a gun, maybe two. Maybe a knife." He fell silent a moment, watching her aslant in the mirror as she laughed, took a swallow of her drink, the white column of her neck smooth above the blood-red silk. She didn't look a fucking day older. "She's a snake. You let her wiggle away, that'll make me very unhappy."

Title: One Two Three Two One
Author:

spuffyduds
Pairing: RV/SK, F/K, F/V, F/V/K
Rating: NC-17
Length: 7600 words
Why I'm reccing this fic:

Spuffyduds gives us a heart-wrenching portrait of Vecchio trying to come back from Vegas. It has an intricate, layered structure, building and destroying things in all three men's voices. This piece digs it's teeth into you from the first breathless paragraphs and never lets go.

Ray had a hard time getting Fraser to leave, to stop beaming at him and take his new partner and just give Ray a few fucking minutes alone. But after the clean-up team dealt with the goons in the bathroom and he’d given Fraser what little updates on Muldoon he had (and made sure to say "Benny" every third word or so because it made the new guy do something weird with his mouth every time), Ray finally managed. He told Benny, forcefully, that he needed a few minutes to make some calls, and urged them out the door.

What he needed a few minutes to do, really, was go back in the bathroom that now stank of bleach, and throw up.

Because when he’d opened the door and seen Fraser, his first thought was "Oh, thank God, it’s Benny and I’m home," but that was his Ray voice, his Chicago voice, and he’d gotten used to letting that run on, pretty background music he couldn’t afford to listen to.

And his next thought was Bookman, was Vegas, was maintain cover at any cost; the voice he’d learned to obey every time if he was going to survive, if he was going to get out of this some day, some year, Jesus, ever; and that one said, "He’s really pretty; too bad you’re going to have to shoot him."

Fandom Appreciation Day 2 - "Little Ray", "Luck", "One Two Three Two One"

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