ds_recsredux | Busted, Sixteenth of June, A Dare's a Dare

Title: Busted
Author: anonymous co.
Pairing Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: R?
Length If you're going to start it, you'd better have a solid few hours to finish!
Why I'm reccing this fic: This is one of those delicious, long, involved post-COTW epics where Ray goes up to Canada to meet Fraser, uncertain of what to expect; Fraser, of course, welcomes him warmly, and one thing leads to another, and... well, you know how it ends (and if you don't, let me tell you: happily! it ends happily! That's my story and I'm sticking to it). It's a love story, of course (and wonderfully done), but it's also a mystery, in that Ray's been wounded in the line of duty and it turns out there's more to the story than that. And the Ray voice is spot-on. I just love this fic—it's one of my ultimate dS comfort fics.

Busted

Title: Sixteenth of June
Author:

resonant8
Pairing Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: NC-17
Length 65k, i.e. a nicely long story
Why I'm reccing this fic: This was the absolute first fic I read in this fandom, and I admit at the time I didn't quite understand what was going on; I think I was confused by the whole "two Rays" idea. Now that I've gotten that straight, though, I can say that this story still is one of my favorites, after many rereadings. It's the story of Fraser and Ray's partnership, as marked by various anniversaries, and it's lovely—you get a real sense of how their relationship develops. Res absolutely gets Fraser and Ray; they're completely themselves here: two complex men who somehow work better together than they do apart.

"You have no poetry in your soul," the counterfeiter said. "I'll bet the constable understands."

"Breeding lilacs out of the dead land," I answered. Here in Chicago it was too early for lilacs, but through the window I could see blooms on a number of trees whose names I had not yet learned. "A blossom on a bare branch, before the leaves return, is a potent image of hope," I said. "And at times hope can be very painful."

Ray looked at me as if he were astonished to find that he agreed with me. "It is, isn't it," he said. "It's like, it's like, what's that thing where they cut your arm off but your fingers still hurt?"

"That's a ... unique way of looking at it, Ray."

"No, he has a very good analogy," Mr. DuSable said.

"Thanks," Ray said. "Everybody says that. I take after my mother's side."

Sixteenth of June

Title: A Dare's a Dare
Author:

cesperanza
Pairing Fraser/Kowalski
Rating: NC-17
Length long, as well
Why I'm reccing this fic: Well, we had the episode where Fraser cross-dresses; now we get the fic where we get to see it. This is a gem of a story. If I were going be shallow, I'd talk about how it's Fraser! in a dress! And then there's sex! (And it's all perfectly in-character, too, which, considering what I just said, is a feat). It's about more than that, though—it's about Fraser, and Ray, and their partnership, and trust. And you've got to love a story that can work on both levels like that; it's some pretty fine writing.

Ray lifted his head and grinned. "Hey, what can I tell you--I'm a feast or famine kind of guy."

"Apparently," Fraser said, and pushed Ray's shoulders up and off him. Ray let himself fall backwards into his part of the car--and that gave him his first good look at Fraser. Short, dark hair going every which way, smudged black mascara, lipstick smeared across his kiss-swollen mouth. Blue dress gaping at the chest, skirt pushed up around his muscular thighs, and--come stained. They'd both come all over it.

"Hey," Ray said jauntily, "you could bring down a government looking like that."

A Dare's a Dare