Milestones
Who: Constable Benton Fraser and Inspector Meg Thatcher What: Fraser's (re)graduation from the RCMP's Depot Division Where: Regina, Saskatchewan When: This morning Warnings: None to begin with, but some definite hot Mountie makin' out later.
Fraser never thought that he would miss the familiar, yet oft times frustrating itch of his woollen red serge's collar against his throat. But then, a few months ago, he had not even contemplated the idea that he might suddenly be in a position where he would not be able to wear it, much less have to go through the arduous process of a lateral entry program in order to be considered once more part of the Force that he has devoted fifteen years of his life to.
The days and weeks have been long, though structured; the structure and rigidity in of itself a comfort after some weeks of inactivity enforced by the circumstances he and his former superior have found themselves in. Fraser is not an idle man, and he rejects utterly the notion of being sidelined into anything other than his chosen profession. Civilian life ill suits his personality, carefully constructed though it is, and offends his sense of duty.
As he stands here now in formation with his fellow cadets in the spacious flag-draped hall-- several of whom initially expressed skepticism about his presence being real rather than fictitious at the outset-- he cannot help but think back to the first time he was presented with his badge. At that presentation, there had been nobody from his family watching; his grandparents too elderly and infirm, his father ... busy, as always.
It is the same, yet different. Today is different. He is, for all intents and purposes, himself a different man than he was all those years ago: before he had been stabbed the first time, before he had broken his leg in that fifty-foot fall early in his career, before he had taken a Chicago P.D. issue bullet to the back. He hopes that those differences, those experiences that have molded and shaped him, were all for the best.
Today, he has witnesses-- witnesses to his re-achievement. Witnesses who actually matter to him. He is once more first in his class, despite his CO's skepticism and scrutiny.
And once more, finally, he stands here at attention with the honour of wearing the scarlet tunic that he was, for an eternity it seems, denied.