AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was written as a Christmas present to someone who wanted a story about the lesser used characters in Psych. I picked Buzz because I believe he is a great cop and totally underappreciated in the series.
"McNab!" The walls vibrated from Detective Lassiter's shout of the officer's name. Buzz in his usual eager way lumbered up to the head detective ready to be of use. As usual, before Buzz could ask what was needed Carlton handed him a stack of files. "I need you to go alphabetize these folders in the file room. When you are done I would like my usual beverage."
Smiling, Buzz confirmed the order. "Black right? You gave up all the cream and sugar last week?"
Giving the officer and annoyed look Carlton replied, "Yes, now get to work. Those have to be done by this afternoon and I have to get to a crime scene." Carlton walked away without so much as a thank you.
Buzz sighed. By the time frame he was given it was pretty clear that the Chief had asked Carlton or O'Hara to do the filing but Buzz was used to getting people's dirty work and sucking it up. Besides, it gave him time to read through some of the files and sometimes his knowledge of the cases ended up helping the head detective or his partner. No one really seemed to notice that he would often come upstairs with the perfect information to get an investigation out of a rut or back on track. Fortunately though, Shawn and Gus noticed most of the time, which is why Buzz liked them so much.
Walking to the file room Buzz was a bit disappointed he would have to spend his morning there. His wife Francine had made him a great lunch and he might have to miss having it again. He could say that after five years of marriage that he would never get sick of his wife's cooking.
Sighing he went to work on the files. Most of them were for the recent case that the detectives were working on. A few days ago a body was found outside of a truck stop, the man was apparently a scientist who was poisoned but other than that they had found little other evidence. The Chief had to call Psych in to consult but they were still working on figuring things out. Buzz glanced over each page as he filed them and he ended up getting done faster than he thought he would. He still had time to take a lunch break before he had to go on patrol duty.
Leaving the file room and thinking about left-over meatloaf, Buzz didn't notice someone passing in front of him and his large frame sent Woody the coroner sprawling to the floor.
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry Woody!" Reaching down he hefted the man to his feet with one arm.
"Wow, that's quite a bit of muscle tone you have there…Buzz was it?" Woody had seen the young man around but had never had the chance to formally meet him.
"Yeah, I was just heading from the file room." He pointed to the small room behind him. "What are you up to?"
Woody's eyes brightened. He spent a lot of time alone in the coroner's office and loved to be able to talk about his work once and a while. "I was just heading to the bullpen to find Detective Lassiter. This case they were on just got interesting. The body that was brought in at first showed that the victim was poisoned, BUT the poison was not enough to have killed the person." Buzz was not a very violent person. Hearing about how people died gave him the willies but the coroner seemed happy to talk so Buzz let him continue. "So I checked and found the person had died of suffocation. The poison was probably just enough to make them not fight back."
"That is terrible. I can't even imagine going like that." Buzz frowned sadly.
"It's not pretty that is for sure." Woody was used to seeing dead bodies but the sad look on Buzz's features made him sympathize a bit. "Anyway I better get these results to the Detective." Woody started walking away but Buzz stopped him.
"Lassiter already left for the crime scene a while ago. I am not sure when he will be back but the Chief might be interested if you want to bring the results to her."
Woody shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think she is a fan of mine lately…ever since I admitted the dream thing. Do you think you can give it to her?"
Buzz didn't know if he really wanted to understand what dream could have made the Chief uncomfortable around Woody. "She might have questions for you though, but if you want I can come with you."
"Would you?" Woody looked relieved. "That would be great, I just don't feel like having a sexual harassment suit filed against me today. The more witnesses the better!" Buzz's eyes widened and he stared off down the hallway a moment before hurrying to catch up with Woody.
Sure enough, when reaching the main hallway, they saw Chief Vic through the windows sitting at her desk. She was on the phone so Buzz had Woody wait politely for a few minutes until she hung up. He knocked on the door and was given permission to enter.
"Uh, Chief. I have Woody, er… Dr. Strode here and he has some papers he would like you to look at."
Chief Vick held out her hand for the paperwork and waved Woody forward. "Dr. Strode. What did you find?"
Pointing to the documents Woody stated, "Chief the man on my table didn't die from poisoning, he died from suffocation, more specifically carbon dioxide poisoning. I believe the poison found in his system was probably something to keep him from struggling as he was taken." Chief Vick looked at the report as Woody continued. "There were no defensive wounds but there was some damage to his fingers, more specifically the nails. It looked like he was trying to scratch his way out of something."
"So you are saying that he was put somewhere and suffocated there rather than being suffocated with an object?" The Chief questioned.
"That or they jettisoned him into space and brought the body back." Woody shrugged.
Buzz piped up so the Chief would stop glaring daggers at the coroner. "That would make sense because of the lack of evidence found on the body. The room thing, not the space thing." Buzz clarified, "Since the killer hadn't touched him other than to place the body at the truck stop."
Chief Vick looked at the papers for a couple moments before looking up at Buzz. "Officer McNab, have you seen or heard from Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara this morning?"
Buzz nodded. "I saw Detective Lassiter a few hours ago when he handed me some files. He said he was going to the crime scene to check it out and I offered to help with some paperwork."
Chief Vick pursed her lips. She knew her detectives had a habit of pushing off less glamorous duties to the officer. "Have either of you seen them since? I haven't been able to get a hold of either my detectives or Mr. Spencer and Mr. Guster and I am getting a bit concerned."
"If you want I can go check out the crime scene and see if they are still there." Buzz was mourning the loss of his lunch hour now but if it helped the Chief out he was glad to do it.
Chief Vick was always impressed by Buzz's eagerness and decided to give him a chance. "Ok McNab, go ahead. Let me know what you find."
Buzz gave a big smile before heading out the door to his squad car. This left Chief Vick alone with Woody. "So um…" Woody started, "Your pant suit is nice."
"OUT!" Chief Vick pointed at the door and the coroner slinked out of the office in a hurry.
Buzz arrived at the Fill N' Grill truck stop. It was a gas station/eatery on the outskirts of town. Pulling up he saw that neither of the detective's cars were here but Shawn's Norton motorcycle was. He stepped out of his police cruiser and walked into the establishment.
It wasn't dirty but it wasn't exactly clean either. Since most of their clientele were truck drivers it wasn't all that important for it to be a pretty place. Buzz noticed the female cashier and walked up with a smile. "Hey there! You wouldn't have seen a couple of detectives here earlier? One a woman with long blond hair, the other a tall serious looking man with black hair?"
The cashier nodded. "They came through a few hours ago with a black guy. They were looking for the hottie who had the motorcycle."
Buzz smirked. Shawn did have a way about him. "Do you know where they went?"
"Nah. I told them the hottie left with some dude. A real shame if you ask me… why is it always the cute ones. Anyway, I didn't get a good look at the guy or the car but they all looked pretty worried when they left."
"Thank you very much for your help." Buzz nodded and headed to his cruiser. By the sound of it Shawn had gotten too close and someone took him. That didn't explain why neither of the detectives or Gus had called the Chief. Speaking of the Chief, Buzz knew she would not be happy when she heard the news.
"What do you mean they are missing?" Chief Vick's voice was tense.
Buzz winced but kept going. "The cashier at the truck stop said that Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara along with Gus went in and asked about Shawn. He had gotten in a vehicle with someone and drove off without his motorcycle. I can only guess that something happened when they found him if they haven't called you yet."
Chief Vick put her head on her desk. "This is a disaster. Not only do I have one loose cannon flying into situations, I have everyone else flying after him."
Looking very guilty even though it wasn't his fault, Buzz tried to think of anything that could help the situation. His eyes widened when he suddenly remembered something from the files he had put away. "Chief!" The shout made her look up instantly. Buzz was usually so soft spoken. "I remembered something from the files. The dead man had a lab partner at his job. Maybe he could know something."
"Good work McNab. Head over there and see what you can find… and be careful. If you find ANYTHING amiss you radio us right away." Chief Vick had already had four people go missing. The last thing she needed was another officer going MIA on her watch.
Buzz was almost tempted to put his siren on the whole way to the labs but resisted the urge because he didn't want to spook the person who may have abducted Shawn if they were around. It was a weekend so the parking lot was pretty deserted, except for a white GMC Jimmy, a Blue Echo and a black Ford Fusion. Everyone was definitely here. Buzz radioed the information into the station. "Unit 9 requesting back up, I found Detective Lassiter's car along with Mr. Guster's sitting in the parking lot."
Buzz got out of his cruiser quietly and strode up to the door. He tried the handle and found it unlocked. Pulling his side arm he got it ready as he entered the building. Most of the lights were off in the hallways except for the emergency ones, so it was a bit more difficult to see. He passed a lounge and a room full of cubicles before running into an employee's only door that was propped open. He began to stick his head inside when movement to his left caused him to jump back.
A man in a white lab coat lunged at him with a syringe, missing his shoulder by a hair but ended up hitting the gun out of his hand. The man swung the syringe over and over while Buzz kept backing up and trying to dodge. The whole time the man was screaming in a rage, "My work won't be stopped! Not by you or anyone!"
Knowing if the syringe hit its mark the fight would be over. Buzz, now backed up to a wall, dodged the next blow, whirled around and pushed the man into the wall where he once was. Before the mad scientist could turn around Buzz pinned him and his arm against the wall and pried the syringe out of his hand, throwing it down the hallway out of reach. "Where are they?" Buzz demanded.
The scientist angrily tried to slam his foot down on Buzz' right toes in a last ditch attempt to get the officer to let go. He seemed surprised by the lack of reaction from Buzz. "Sorry mister, I lost those toes in an explosion a couple years ago. Better luck next time though."
The scientist screamed in frustration as Buzz, still holding him against the wall, grabbed his hands and cuffed them. He looked around for anywhere he could stick the man while he looked for his friends but found nothing. He would have to push him along while he searched. Picking up his gun along the way, he started down the hall.
There were three labs in this hallway and all were empty. Test tubes in one, plants in another, the last had some type of chamber in it. The end of the hallway was a blank wall, he could go no further and everyone was still nowhere to be seen. Double checking the rooms he saw the sign on the wall of the chamber room. "Chemical Testing Chamber- Warning: Sealed Room." Under the sign was a locking mechanism that resembled a safe door, but without the combination. "Oh God no!" Buzz exclaimed as he put everything together. The man had to have been killed by his partner, who Buzz assumed was the crazed scientist cuffed beside him. The victim was suffocated in a room. This room, and it was also the only place that his friends could be.
Buzz, thinking quickly, took his second pair of cuffs and cuffed the scientist's leg to a sturdy looking pole and rushed over to the locking mechanism. He turned it forcefully, frantically trying to get it open. With a woosh of air three people; Juliet, Carlton and Gus fell out of the chamber and gasped for breath. All of them looked flushed and shaky. Buzz helped Juliet to her feet and made sure Gus and Carlton were steady on theirs as well.
"McNab?" Carlton couldn't believe his eyes. The younger officer had somehow figured out where they were. Juliet had bent over trying to catch her breath, muscles spasming from too much carbon dioxide. Carlton did his best to help her move out of the way while glaring at the restrained man a few feet away.
"Is everyone ok? Where's Shawn?" Buzz looked past them and saw Shawn lying prone twitching uncontrollably. Gus was trying to drag himself back into the chamber after his friend. "Shawn!" Buzz yelled and took up roost next to Gus. Leaning over, he could see Shawn was breathing but he looked like he was suffering from major carbon dioxide poisoning. "Back up should be here any minute. What happened?"
Still gasping every once and a while Gus replied, "Shawn figured it out... He knew
the victim had a partner and talked to the guy. He called Lassie… and told him to meet at the truck stop, but before Lassie got there the scientist got him and brought him here." Gus coughed, "We showed up here after we got a text from Shawn that he was able to send before the guy took his phone. He just wasn't able to text that the scientist was the killer and when we got here he forced us into this chamber."
"So Shawn was in here longer, that's why he is worse?" Buzz asked and Gus nodded. "He's going to be ok. Don't worry." Buzz put a hand on Gus' shoulder as Juliet came into the chamber to see how her boyfriend was doing while Carlton dealt with the suspect. A minute later back up arrived, took the scientist away, and called an ambulance for Shawn. He started to come to as they were hooking him up to the oxygen after getting him on the gurney. Gus and Juliet thanked Buzz and followed the paramedics out to meet Shawn at the hospital.
Buzz was left standing there next to Carlton in an awkward silence before Carlton turned to the younger man and asked. "Did you get all the files put away?"
Buzz smiled good naturedly. "Yes I did detective. Did you still want your coffee when we get back to the station?"
"Damn right." Grumbled the detective as they both walked out of the room.
After spending the rest of the afternoon filling out statements and seeing how Shawn was doing in the hospital, Buzz was about to head home when the Chief had called him into her office.
"Sit down McNab." Chief Vick said sternly.
Looking like a giant whipped puppy, Buzz sat down in one of the chairs in front of the Chief's desk. Buzz was wondering what he did wrong. "Did I not call in backup soon enough? Should I have waited?"
Seeing the worry on her officer's face Chief Vick's features softened. "Officer McNab. You did a great job today. You saved four lives with quick thinking and great detective skills."
Buzz's face lit up like a child at Christmas. He had been so worried that he was going to be fired. "Thank you so much Chief. I'm glad I didn't let you down."
"Quite the contrary Buzz." It wasn't often Chief Vick used first names, when she did, it was usually before she said something important. "I have noticed your hard work and dedication around here over the years and I wanted to let you know it was appreciated…" Chief Vick reached inside her desk and pulled out a badge, handing it to Buzz. "And it is rewarded."
Tears welled up in Buzz's eyes as he looked at his name on a detective badge. "Chief… I…" He didn't know what to say.
"I had been planning on this for some time after I found out you had gotten a 96 on your detective exam." Chief Vick admitted smiling. "Congratulations, your new duties will start tomorrow. Now go home and tell your wife the good news."
Buzz nodded and left the office in a daze, still gazing at the badge and knowing how proud of him his wife would be. His thoughts were scattered by a familiar shout of "McNab!" Turning around he saw Detective Lassiter approaching him.
Carlton's eye caught the shiny new badge Buzz was holding. "McNab, I just wanted to ask…what kind of coffee do you like?"
That was the closest thing to a Thank You Buzz would get from Carlton, and Buzz was the type of person who took what he could get. "I take my coffee with three sugars detective."
END NOTES: This was really fun to write, hope you all enjoyed it.