[ Ray didn't just hear Fraser's words, his misery, but he could also see the way that his partner - his replacement, he thought spitefully - reacted to those words, the way he fell into a rhythm with Fraser with complete ease, the way he understood almost innately the meaning and purpose. Kowalski trusted Fraser in a way that Ray had needed far longer to learn, and which had in fact had more than a wobble or two over the years.

He narrowed his eyes, feeling the guilt as Fraser inflicted it wash over him. While they were comforting words for his partner, they cut like a knife with the former. They begged and pleaded and asked him why and please, and Ray took a sharp breath and tried to crunch his face up into something more impenetrable.

And then Fraser's new partner started to move, and Fraser flushed and bit down on his own reactions, instead turning to look him right in the eye. We can survive anything. That wasn't his any more, was it? That was just for this guy--that fucking interloper.

But God, his eyes. The truth. The truth? The truth would get them all killed. Why didn't Fraser get that?

He straightened up, looked into the corner at Mike, then back to Fraser. ]

The truth is a little frotting's not gonna make anyone think you two are fucking. You better show me some loving, else I'm gonna get bored.