Another fill for the meme :) I kept having my little daydreams about this so it had to be written. I'm also not very big on touching people myself (even casually), so if it seems a little stilted please let me know. No beta, as usual, so all mistakes are my own and if you tell me about them I shall endeavor to correct them.

Also, totally improvising this episode because I don't want to load it up to watch it. Going off what I remember and obviously transposing some touching in there.

Emma arrived at the precinct maybe a minute after Travis pulled up, so she had been following him in when she'd heard him ask about her. She'd stood by the door and watched as Wes came up and leaned in far closer than a normal partner—even closer than some actual couples she had seen in public—and gave Travis a shoulder bump while seemingly casually sniffing his neck. She couldn't hear his words, but his wrinkled nose said it all.

Nobody in the precinct batted an eye at the closeness of the two, who even while arguing stood quite close together. They were probably used to it, she realized, because the boys hadn't yet noticed her and were acting normally and not trying to play the part of innocent, perfect partners. It was slightly odd, but they sat just as close to each other in group as the other couples did but had always maintained that they were not a couple.

The psychologist continued to watch as officers bustled around and Mike Sutton meandered over to the pair. His face also wrinkled up and Travis looked defensive when Wes uttered something most likely offensive. She quickly strolled over and greeted the two, only hearing the end of a conversation: "—shyness, Captain."

She greeted the enthusiastic captain and smiled encouragingly at the two awkward looking boys. Soon they were off to their squad car. This surprised her because Wes had just had a range rover the other day, she didn't ask about it though. When they got in, for the first time in her life she was in the back of a police vehicle, separated by the grating down the center of the car. The boys argued outside about who would drive, but ultimately Wes won like she had predicted. They joined her inside the vehicle and started on their way to the hotel.

The tightness of a car would have prohibited much physical contact between even married couples, Emma knew, and certainly between two self-proclaimed single men. Travis and Wes, however, continued to surprise her. As soon as they were on the freeway the boys were quiet for a few minutes while Travis's hand found its way to Wes's knee across the console. She didn't comment and neither did the blonde, which told her that it was a normal occurrence—though usually reserved for people of intimate nature. While they argued the hand never removed itself and Travis's thumb kept up a constant circling motion. The two might not even be aware of their actions, she noticed, as the silly argument required her to jump in to remind them that she was just observing.

Outside the hotel, Wes quickly handed her off to an unfortunate officer who had either entrusted him with his sleeping problems or, more likely, had been found out by the detective. She discussed with him the shooting and eventually moved away from him and back into the lobby where the guys were once again arguing. This time it was in front of a pretty girl, the desk girl it looked like. She looked uncomfortable and as Dr. Ryan neared them she picked up the conversation about Wes's failed marriage.

"Looks like I haven't missed a thing," she said pointedly, and both men turned around, halting the conversation. They continued on up to the victim's room five floors up. In the elevator Travis stood next to Wes and rubbed his arm from shoulder to elbow a few times, supposedly in apology. The blonde's stiff facial features relaxed minutely and he nudged the other back with his shoulder. Again, very odd for two supposedly unattached men.

In the poor girl's room the two quickly split up to different areas. Both put on gloves like it was second nature and started to rummage around. The conversation quickly devolved into another petty argument. She had a feeling this was their prime way of communicating during everyday situations and it was likely to continue throughout the day.

Emma watched as Wes went out onto the balcony, looking quite content up high, and then observed the scene on the ground. She followed Travis into the bathroom and watched from the doorway while he deduced that she was expecting somebody. It was all very fascinating how they came to these conclusions. When Wes did not respond to Travis's query, both of them looked out to the balcony. To her shock and mild horror, Wes was not there. Travis, though, was very near panic if his eyes and body language said anything. He sprinted to the glass door and looked around for his partner, when the man in question poked his head out from the floor below. From there the case got decidedly more difficult and gruesome, like something she'd see on CSI.

Their little group went back to the squad car and continued on to the dead girl's husband's home. Again, on the way there Travis's hand found Wes's knee and the banter continued back and forth. Once Wes said something a little more cutting than usual and followed it up with a squeeze to the hand resting on his knee to take the sting out of it. The ride was mostly uneventful past that except for a minor radio station war where both of them used only one hand, Travis used his right so as not to remove his other from Wes she noticed, and eventually they ended up on something both of them hated and consequently just turned on the police radar.

As they neared the house, she noticed Wes rolling her windows down automatically just enough to let some breeze in. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

True to her prediction, Wes abandoned her in the car and she really couldn't blame him when they were going to tell a man his wife had been murdered. Wes said something to Travis on the steps that caused the darker one to give him a one armed hug about the waist. It would have been one thing to see a 'bro-hug' about the shoulders, but once more they were far more intimate than mere partners would be.

Minutes later, she was joined in the squad car by her two detectives and a man and woman. Conversation stopped entirely on the way to the station, but Travis's hand never left his partner's knee.

After the brief conversation with the man and wife, they were free to go. Dr. Ryan joined them in visiting the coroner's office, much to Travis's displeasure. They stood close together in the roomy elevator, something she still found odd of the two who acted as if they hated each other but touched as if they'd been together for years. She supposed they had, just not in the sense the touches usually meant.

Their banter turned from biting to teasing after she made a joke about cadavers. Wes thought Travis's disgust at dead bodies was greatly amusing considering his line of work and Travis thought Wes's fear of germs and antisocial tendencies were funny considering his line of work. Jonelle and Travis's feud was brutal; truly hostile while he and Wes's relationship was not. Emma noticed Travis's exasperated looks at Wes every time the blonde was nice to Jonelle, and also his 'how dare you look at him, much less speak to him' face whenever the butcher smiled and said something to Wes.

Very interesting indeed.

Back at the boys' desks, Wes approached with a cup of coffee but due to some officers walking in front of her she missed their brief conversation. When they passed her, she glanced at Wes coming around the desks to look at Travis's computer. As he got closer, Travis grabbed his waistband and tugged him so he almost spilled his coffee, earning a smack on the head. The brunette just laughed and shook the other's hip back and forth teasingly. She was astonished nobody in the precinct batted an eye at the incredibly personal touch between the two men.

"Damn, Princess, you sure are skinny. That new diet of 'anything green or bust' working out for you?"

"Working better than your '85 percent trans fat or bust' diet, I say." They were teasing each other again. They'd forgotten she was there once more, which was good. She wanted to see them in their natural setting.

Once they'd figured out where their identity thief lived, she was back in the squad car and Travis's hand was back on the knee.

The run down neighborhood looked like some questionable people lived there already, so she was not surprised (though very discomforted) to hear gunshots not a minute after they pulled up. She was quickly ushered back inside the patrol car and gladly stayed inside as the two detectives had a silent discussion about how to find the shooter.

The captain was correct that they had something special in the way of partnership—they communicated astonishingly well despite their differences. Soon she again had to share her backseat with a sweaty, overweight man who was heavily inebriated.

In the interrogation viewing room she had the perfect vantage point of seeing their partnership in action. Wes was very chivalrous in his actions to allow the man a lawyer. Most cops, like Travis, would insist on not offering and waiting until the subject asked for one. The man was a wreck and answered every question truthfully, then nakedly a few minutes later even though both detectives strongly encouraged him to keep his clothes on.

Mike tried to get some information out of her, but she reminded him of confidentiality to get him to go away. He imparted some last bit of wisdom about the boys before departing. She couldn't help but agree with his assessment of the partnership.

Back in the interrogation room, Wes walked around the table, behind Travis and towards the door. He patted the other on the shoulder, letting his hand drag down his back as he moved farther away. There had been no cause for it as far as she could tell; an affectionate touch just because was all that was going on. Wes didn't seem the type to involve himself in them, but Travis didn't respond in any way but slinging an arm out to check Wes's hip on his way out of the room.

In the bullpen, when Kenny had left, the two walked side by side (too closely) to their desks. They rounded a corner and the last few stairs while she watched and passed by the rival cop partners, Kate and Amy she supposed. The pairs greeted each other and talked for a moment or two, then the dark haired one grabbed her blonde friend and the two continued on with a last barb to the boys.

Travis and Wes both reacted differently: Travis laughed out loud while Wes just smiled slightly. Wes looked to where the girls headed off to and grabbed Travis, dramatically dragging him by his upper arm to their desks and muttering about work to be done.

To end the visit, she talked to Wes in the break room while he retrieved his fifth (at least) cup of coffee that day. Of all her patients, he was the most difficult to work with and he seemed to know it. He also seemed to enjoy it. She bid her farewells to the pair and the captain and headed out the door.

This entire day had shed a very bright and new light on the relationship between two men. She wondered in the back of her head if she should tell them what she had seen and risk shocking them both or just let it stew. Their faces when she told them would probably almost be worth it.

Thank you for reading :) reviews are lovely.