Title: The Seven Deadly Sins 7

Author: Birgitt Schuknecht

Fandom: due South

Rating: NC17 (slash)

Pairing: Vecchio/Zuko

Category: drama

Disclaimer: The characters used in the following story are not mine. I do not make any money out of this. It's written for fun and for the fans of the show.

Spoilers: None (takes place before the pilot)

By Birgitt Schuknecht.

Night Seven (31th of October)

Acedia (Sloth)

Ray looked outside. It was getting dark by now. He hoped he would be home in time to spend the rest of the day with Michael. The boy would never forgive him if he missed the trick or treating.

"Vecchio! Did you even hear my last question?" The voice of his superior officer sounded clearly impatient.

"What? Oh, sorry, Lieu, I... I..." He stopped in embarrassment. He hadn't heard anything of what Welsh had said.

"I wanted to know if there's anything you want to add to your report." As always Ray was astonished at the Lieutenant's ability to sound so angry while speaking so calmly.

"No, that was all." Ray straightened in his chair. Half an hour ago he had returned to Chicago, after he had attended the funeral of his lover and his lover's sister. What had seemed a good idea this morning had turned out to be another disaster.

"Detective, try to concentrate on the matters at hand, for God's sake. You're not the only one who wants to be home on time for the Halloween party." Welsh let out a sigh of exasperation, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I wasn't thinking about Halloween. Well, to be honest I did but..." Welsh raised a hand and stopped him from going on.

"Enough of that, Vecchio. I have a question or rather a comment to what you just told me. Are you aware of the fact that your story of what happened in the last two days doesn't show you in a particular bright light?" Ray stared at Welsh blankly. "I mean, an alibi given by a mobster saved your neck. Just think about it. I bet IA won't be too thrilled by this."

Ray had feared as much. He would have to answer some nasty questions in the near future. But there was no evidence to prove his report wrong. Only his own knowledge...

"And let me add something. I personally do not believe one word of what you have told me." The lieutenant stared hard at him and Ray could barely keep his calm. "I fear I cannot trust you as much as I should, Vecchio. And I think it will be a long time before you can prove me wrong. I assigned you to a special assortment of cases. Miss Besbriss will have put the files on your desk by now. Dismissed."

At the last word Ray nearly jumped. This was worse than he'd expected. Since he had left Frankie last night his life seemed to disintegrate into tiny pieces. When he had returned home last night he had avoided his mother who had still been up. He had just gone into his room and locked the door. He had ignored her knocks and questions. He had not had the strength to talk to her or to look into her eyes or to endure her embrace. So he had ignored her.

At the funeral Ray had kept himself distant from the other mourners. Other mourners. Ray had discovered he still hadn't been able to mourn his dead lover. There hadn't been any tears. After all others had left he had moved over to the graves and had stared down at the many wreaths and bunches of flowers. He had marvelled at the intensity and brightness of the colours. He had been certain that nothing could have any other colour than gray or black on this chilly October day. He had tried to say a little prayer, tried to remember what he had learned to be an appropriate farewell. Words hadn't come and so he had just stood there until he had started to shiver from the cold and his right shoulder had started to throb rather painfully.

When he had arrived at the precinct there had been stares, but no comments. At least not when he had been looking. But he had been sure to have heard whispers as soon as he had turned his back. Without acknowledging Elaine's attempt of a greeting he had moved over to Welsh's office.

Ray had expected... Well, he didn't know what he had expected from the Lieutenant. But it was sure it wasn't this open display of mistrust. There was nothing he could do about it, though. He could just leave. "Sir!"

When he opened the door Welsh said, "Vecchio!"

Ray looked back over his shoulder. At the stern look Welsh gave him he turned around fully. "Lieutenant?"

"I need a written report ASAP."

"Understood, Sir." Ray fled out of the office, closing the door rather loud. He made his way over to his desk. There lay a pile of files. He took the first one in his hand and leafed through it. He took the next and repeated his inspection. After he had browsed the third he sat down on his chair and hid his face in his hands. Tedious work, with no promising outcome. Burglaries mostly. Lists of stolen goods to be checked, interrogation of victims and possible witnesses.

A soft voice brought him out of his brooding. "Welsh wants an update on those on a regular basis. A weekly update that is. Written." Elaine lay a hand on Ray's shoulder and Ray blinked up at her. "I'm sorry, Ray."

"Yes, we all are. Thank you ever so kindly." Ray was stunned at her shocked expression. Those words had come out harder than he had intended. Before he could apologise Elaine had turned and went to her own desk. She never looked back.

'Damn.' For a second he wondered if he should follow her. Then he shrugged and turned to his files once more. He counted them. Fourteen. He tossed them into his inbox, disgusted. Right at the moment he couldn't care less. For his job. His family. His life. Fourteen unsolved cases. As far as Ray Vecchio was concerned it could as well have been forty-one. What was the difference? The next moment the door to the squadroom flew open and a white-furred figure jumped in, howling like a wolf.

'Yeah,' Ray thought. 'A Happy Halloween to you, too."

End of Night Seven