Life Choices

1987

Things had been running slow at the Santa Barbra police department lately. Nothing more interesting than a traffic ticket had been reported in weeks. No one could escape the pursuing boredom.

It was the last Friday of the month which meant that the teachers at Shawn's school would have their afternoons occupied by meetings.

Henry always enjoyed showing his son off at the office and his coworkers enjoyed having him there. The boy managed to carry with him a certain light that's hard to come by. And the way he took note of even the smallest detail… they couldn't wait until he graduated. No doubt he would be a great cop one day.

So during his lunch break, Henry drove out to the school to pick his son up after his half-day. He spotted Shawn on the sidewalk in front of the school. He wasn't alone.

"Come on guys," Shawn pleaded, looking between his two friends, Gus and Denis. "Can't at least one of you come?"

"This close to the show?" Gus raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Miss Kathy will kill me if I miss another practice. Besides, she hates you already for that stunt you pulled at the last competition. If it gets out who I skipped tap to hang out with, I'm screwed."

Shawn dismissed this argument with a wave of his hand. "She made it out to be way bigger than it actually was. Everyone knows pineapples are more effective than tomatoes anyway. Besides, why are you afraid of a 58 year old cat lady that only leaves the house to teach a tap class?"

The glare he received gave him all the answer he needed. Gus wasn't going to budge anytime soon. Giving up, he looked to Denis.

"No way man." He shook his head. "You know I've got to keep an eye on Area 51. According to spacenut4eva, the big plan is going down sometime today. I can't miss it."

Shawn gave a dramatic sigh in exasperation.

"Denis!" The three turned to find Jack approaching them, looking quite annoyed. Denis's older brother had been in a sour mood his whole senior year. His parents had been on his case about college when he still had no idea what he wanted to do with his life.

Jack had always been the big brother that Shawn wished he could have. He was the type of guy that would play games with you (though he sucked at checkers), tried to be interested in what you liked to do, and picked you up from school whenever he got the chance (Do they hand a license out to just anyone over sixteen?). In fact, that was what he was doing now.

"Denis," he said as he reached the group. "Are you coming or not? I've been waiting for you the past ten minutes."

"Sorry, Jack."

"Hey Jack." Shawn spoke up, seeing an opportunity present itself. "You want to go down to the police station with me?"

All three of them gave him a funny look.

"Why…?" he asked cautiously.

The younger boy just shrugged. "Dad wants me to visit and I thought it might help you out with your problem. He could show you around, explain what he has to do. Who knows? Maybe law is for you."

Although Shawn seriously doubted this was the case, it was what Jack needed to hear. He felt kind of bad for using him like this but he would feel worse with one on one time with his dad.

"Yeah," the high schooler started, nodding slowing. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Shawn!"

Henry had arrived.

"Let's go, then," Shawn said, leading him to the car.

"Wait!" Denis called. "The buses already left. How am I supposed to get home?"

"Go hang out with Gus. I'll pick you up later."

His little brother looked like he was going to protest further, but they had already climbed into the cruiser.

Henry was hoping that he and Shawn could hang out together. It seemed to him that his son was growing more and more distant and he didn't know how to stop it. Every time he tried it either resulted in him yelling or awkward silences, neither of which helped. He had been taking Shawn down to the station since he was little. As he grew older it became almost a safe ground. They both knew their way around it, they both knew about the work being done there, and they both knew Larry was a jerk. Things there seemed simpler. It was separate from the world of teenage stuff and yelling and arguing. So when Henry saw that Shawn was bringing a tag along, he couldn't help but to be a bit disappointed.

"Hey, Mr. Spencer."

This was how Shawn did things. One day everything's all fine and dandy. Then all of a sudden Shawn has to have someone come with him to hang out with his dad. Bringing a friend isn't a big deal or anything and most would just dismiss it, but not Henry. He had seen this happen too many times before. Bringing someone else along is going to become routine. Then he'll have excuses to avoid going to the station all together. Before you know it there'll be a yelling match. Doors will be slammed. Glares will be pointed all throughout the following week. Hanging out at the station will never be the same again.

"Hey, Jack. Coming to visit the station with us?"

"Yes, sir. I'm checking out possible career options."

Henry supposed that he should relax around the kid a bit. What might -will- occur in the future isn't his fault. To be perfectly honest, he was glad that Jack was coming and not his little brother. He could only take so much alien talk. Sure he tended to be a bit loud, but aren't all kids. Overall Jack was a nice, normal kid. Seeing Shawn grow up he had almost forgotten that they do exist out there. It wouldn't do much to ask him to leave now, anyway. Once Jack set his mind to something, all anyone could do is step out of the way. Now that he thought about it, that could be just what the department needs.

"You think you want to be a cop?"

"I think I intend to find out."

He was originally going to have Shawn show his friend around the station, but upon seeing the paperwork piled up on his desk, Henry thought that it couldn't hurt to do it himself.

"Usually there's a lot more going on," he explained, "but lately it's been a bit–"

Henry cut himself off as he heard the screaming. He ran forward just as the doors slammed open.

"Help! Help!"

Another officer was trying to keep his hold on a flailing woman. With the screaming and thrashing and frantic eyes, she appeared absolutely psychotic, and that was without hearing what she was saying.

"Are you all possessed, too?!"

Henry looked the officer clinging desperately to the handcuffs, confusion clearly evident in his eyes.

Understanding the unspoken question, he explained, "She was like this when we found her by her boyfriend's body. Can you take her in for questioning?"

Henry gave him an odd look. Officer McLean was a do-it-himself kind of guy. He would never hand over an interrogation willingly. Besides, Henry didn't know the context in which to ask the questions. He wasn't there at the scene. It didn't make any sense.

"The ghost made him do it! Help! It's going to get me, too! You've got to believe me!"

Then again, he wouldn't want to spend too long with this one either.

"Now, Miss…"

"NO!" she screeched, starting to kick and flail even harder. "You just think I'm crazy! You weren't there! You don't understand!"

"You're right."

This new voice had taken everyone by surprise. Transfixed by the scene before him, Shawn hadn't noticed what his friend was doing until now.

Jack placed both hands on her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes. She grew very still. "We don't understand, but these people here are willing to give it their best shot. They just need you to answer their questions so they can prevent something like this from happening again. But first you need to calm down. Understand?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now follow this man here. He'll make sure nothing happens to you."

With yet another nod, she turned to Henry. He sent one more look to Jack before leading her off.

The room was silent.

"Well," Jack said softly, licking his lips sheepishly. "I think I finally figured out what I want to be."

Shawn raised a skeptical eyebrow. "A police officer?"

"No." He shook his head. "A ghost hunter."

Everyone had assumed she was insane. Everyone thought she either killed her boyfriend herself or that the stress of seeing him dead had driven her over the edge. This was the first real sign to Jack that he didn't exactly fit into that "everyone" category.

There was something about the look in her eyes that gnawed at his subconscious. She looked terrified, and confused. If she was seeing ghosts everywhere, wouldn't she be used to it by now? Sure, the added death of her boyfriend could have been what freaked her out, but still.

Her expression wasn't the only thing that bothered him. The one of her escorting officer had only confirmed his suspicions that things weren't as they seemed. His eyes were searching, looking around the station, eyeing all the people. A cop would have no reason to be checking out the department. So why stop as soon as you walk through the doors? Nothing was adding up.

What really convinced him that he had made the right decision didn't come until he had left the station, heading back to the school to pick up his car. Sitting on the ground, leaning against the building, was none other than that police officer. Jerry McLean, Shawn had informed him. He was sitting there, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Jack frowned to himself and walked over. "Are you okay?"

Officer McLean looked up, startled. "Yeah. I think so." Then he squinted, looking at Jack harder. "Hey, you look really familiar. Do I know you?"

He hesitated before answering. "Not personally, but I was in there when you brought in that women. My name's Jack."

"Woman?" His eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion. "Oh. Right. The woman. Something to do with her boyfriend, right?"

"Yeah…" Jack was getting really worried now. "You sure you're alright?"

"Just a killer migraine. I'll be fine. You go on ahead. Don't let me keep you from anything. I just need a minute."

"If you say so…" Jack turned around slowly and continued his path to the school. But one thing was for sure.

That woman wasn't insane. That officer hadn't been acting strange himself. He hadn't been acting on his freewill at all. Ghosts were real and they could do pretty much anything they wanted, hurt anyone they wanted. They all could be at risk because everyone assumed they were just a myth.

Then again, Jack isn't exactly everyone.

Tell me what you think. Is Jack really OOC? I tried to think of him before his obsessive interest in ghosts, the lack of shame that comes with parenting, and the awkwardness that comes with locking yourself inside your basement all day. He still likes ham and fudge but it's scary how fast some teenage boys' metabolisms work.

I get that in the cartoon it makes mentions of other Fentons being ghost hunters and that Denis has a different last name, but just go with it. This was originally going to be a prologue to a longer story, but for now, at least, it remains a OneShot.

Review please!