"Show me again, if you will." Fraser stood beside his partner and stared at the turtle tank. He pressed his trembling hands deeper into his pockets, still unsure.

"What's there to show, Fraser?" The blond detective carefully scooped up 'Killer', his turtle, and turned to face his partner, turtle now securely in his hands. "There's nothing to it. See?" He raised his hands and put the turtle directly in Fraser's line of sight. Perfectly harmless."

"Yes. I see him." He took two steps back. "Could you not put him quite so close to my face?"

Ray dropped his hands a few inches, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "This was your idea, not mine. In case you know… you needed a little reminding."

"Well, this is closer than I got to him yesterday, so I would say we are making progress."

"But you still haven't touched him." Ray declared, his smiling fading. "I thought that was the point in all of this."

"I have too touched him."

"A poke doesn't count, Ben." Ray placed Killer carefully back in his tank. "I have to get going or Welsh is going to have my head. Stupid meetings. You and Dief can stay as long as you like. I shouldn't be too long, if you want to stick around."

The door clicked shut behind Ray and Fraser turned back to the aquarium containing Killer. "I can do this. It's just a rock… with legs." He held his two shaking hands on either side of Killer's shell, willing himself to close the distance and finally grasp the reptile in his hands. The coolness and smoothness of the shell stunned him. Fraser wasn't sure what he was expecting when he picked the turtle up, but it wasn't that.

Dief sat at Fraser's feet, eager to see his turtle friend up close again. He barked and turned a quick circle before setting down again. The turtle popped its head out of the shell quickly and Fraser reacted…

Ray pushed the door to his apartment opened and entered carrying beer and a pineapple pizza. "Fraser, I got pizza. I figured you and the fur-face would still be here."

"Ray… we might have had an… incident. And it wasn't entirely all Dief's fault." Fraser looked at his friend and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"What kind of incident?" Ray questioned as he set the pizza on the counter. Dief was lying on the couch with his paws over his muzzle, clearly embarrassed.

"Well… I was practicing, picking up the turtle…"

"'Killer…'" Ray corrected with a smile.

"Yes… 'Killer'… and Diefenbaker barked and the turtle, 'Killer', stuck his head out and I…" Fraser drew a knuckle across his eyebrow. "I may have dropped him."

"You freaked?" Ray chuckled.

"I was startled." Fraser reiterated.

"You freaked."

"I was surprised…"

"You freaked…"

"No, I was stunned…"

"You freaked…"

"Fine… I freaked. But Ray, he stuck his head out!" Fraser was becoming animated and Ray couldn't help but let out the laugh he was containing. "I did take him to the vet and they have assured me that he will be fine."

"How did you do that, Frase?"

"I put him in a box." Fraser hesitated and shifted uncomfortably. "You may want to wash your wooden spoon."