He's absolutely *essential* for what he is and what he isn't to F. And I don't think that Ray Kowalski wouldn't blow Vic away - but he wouldn't figure it out, calculate it like that, and he wouldn't knowingly risk his relationship with F to do it. But the Vecchio I know and love *would* do all of that, and even more so after his undercover gig, cause F is more important to him than just about anything else outside his family. (F *is* his family, I think, as far as Vecchio's concerned, so, you know. *G*)