Just a scenario that came to my mind while listening to Counting Crows' "Colorblind",in the last part.
Not typical Psych,so apologies to the die hard Psych try at fanfic,as well as slash, tho it's more fluff! :)
Carlton Lassiter was bruised,bloody and beaten, his tall lanky frame stooped as he clutched damaged authorative, confident step reduced to a pain filled shuffle.
Despite the pain that racked his body with every breath,he was a man on a peeled the last strips of duct tape from his raw,chafed wrists with a grunt and tossed them aside.
He needed to get to the warehouse where the shipment was coming in before that short, annoying psychic did. Shawn Spencer was in over his head, and Carlton would be damned if anyone but him would get the satisfaction of putting a bullet in him.
Shawn had been in over his head before, that was nothing was being at the dangerous end of a gun, but usually he could talk his way out of the situation. Or, at the least, he knew he could stall until Lassiter and O'Hara rode in to the rescue.
This time, however,his sneaky shennanigans had put him in an exceptionally bad position, one that he had no plan for. He thought he could just sneak in, get a look, and call with his newest psychic revelation. He wasn't expecting the bad guy to be waiting for him
Shawn braced himself for the hurt,hoping it would be quick and relatively painless.
The next couple of seconds were a blur of noise and movement,a body crashed into him,a gunshot,voices yelling,flashlight beams cutting through the gloom, and something warm and wet soaking into his shirt from the body that covered his.
Lassiter came around slowly,floating in a fluffy,cloudy fog of pain medications.
He could hear the steady beeping of the machines, the whirring and clicking,murmuring voices and the PA system squawking in the background.
Most importantly,he felt a warm hand cradling his smiled weakly,his heartbeat speeding up.
There could only be one person who would be keeping vigil at his bedside,lovingly holding his hand,wanting to remain there for the moment he awoke.
Carlton Lassiter opened his eyes, his crystal blue gaze falling upon the snoozing form in the chair next to his bed rail.
"Victoria...?"He croaked,voice almost a whisper from the rawness of his breathing tubes had long since been removed,thankfully.
It definately wasn't his ex-wife,Victoria,much to his shock.
Carlton knelt on his bed,sitting on his heels,head down and hands hanging limply at his sides.
His eyes were closed,a frozen statue of stillness.
His suit jacket,tie and button up shirt were tossed half-hazardly across the back of his desk chair, his gun,holstered, tossed on the desk top his shoes, normally lined up perfectly at the end of the bed, were littering the floor like trash on a highway.
Carlton heard the click of the front door latch catching as it shut, but didn't twitch a muscle.
The cat-like footsteps heading towards him,and the soft rustle of fabric on skin as the visitor let his t-shirt puddle to the floor didn't cause him to open his eyes.
He felt the bed shift with the added weight,someone getting close to him,but it didn't matter. Carlton was in pain,and not of the physical sorts.
Emotions were in turmoil,he was wrung out,and pushed to his breaking point.
Seeing someone else at his hospital bedside only drove home the point that,even with the divorce papers signed,Victoria was gone,for .
The strain of the job,the lonliness,it was all getting to him. Espeially that irritating,infuriating psychic who pushed his buttons,who annoyed the hell out of him, and made him feel things he wasn't sure he wanted to feel. The internal strife was eating him alive.
"Lassie..."Shawn started,a catch in his throat."I wanted to thank you,for saving my hide back there. That bullet, well,..it had my name engraved on it, in calligraphy even."
Bruises still decorated the older man's ribs and chest,standing out in angry relief against pale skin. The thick thatch of salt and pepper chest hair couldn't hide the ugliness of the violence that had been inflicted. The bullet exit wound was merely a red,puckered mouth just above the head detective's collarbone now.
Shawn sucked in a breath,holding it in the span of a heartbeat before exhaling."Lassie,...Carlton...what I'm about to say,it's difficult for for me. For me to say that you are the one and only case that I haven't been able to solve.I just can't figure you out. The back and forth game,me teasing you, you hating me,but then you helping me when I need it most...and now taking a bullet meant for me,I think it's more than you being a good cop.A good head detective, I mean. "
He paused,waiting for any reaction from the handsome statue of a man before him,and finding none forthcoming,he continued.
" I guess what I am trying to say is,I'm not going to pursue you anymore. I'm .Through."Shawn wiped angrily at tears beginning to form."This is the end of the line, all I ask is for you to touch me,to reach out and feel that I am here for you,as I always have been,and always will be. It's all I am asking for,Carlton,a simple touch."
Shawn shook his head,tears slowly trailing down his cheeks as he leaned forward to whisper."If you truly don't feel for me the way I think you do,then don't.I'll walk out that door,and things will remain,... much as they can be, when it comes to the crabby head detective,and the incorrigible,snarky psychic, working side by side to put the bad guys away."
Carlton was at war within himself,struggling,fighting to keep himself in. He wasn't a pansy who got all soft and mushy over kittens and Hallmark card sentiment. He was a strict,by the book, highly respected Head Detective of the Santa Barbara PD,for crying out loud! Even he hadn't puzzled out what had caused him to pull a reckless stunt like throwing himself into the line of fire. It was definately not standard protocol for someone such as himself,it was stupid,dangerous,and could have gotten them both killed,if it hadn't have been for O'Hara.
He felt like he had lost part of himself after signing those divorce papers,it left a deep,painful hole in his heart that seemed would never the string of pointless,worthless dates he had been on hadn't help dull the pain,or fill the hole in the slightest.
Then there was Shawn. He knew that Shawn was always out to make him look like an ass,but then he turned around and did things that baffled him. He proved Carlton's innocence when charged with murder,for one.
It took awhile, but finally realization dawned on Carlton. All of Shawn's snarky comments,the snippy jabs and cutsie nicknames were Shawn's way of flirting with him. Even slightly more frightening was that Lassiter was catching himself thinking of Shawn in a less than professional manner.
Carlton was being given a choice,either he continue to resist his desires,stuff those carnal thoughts back into a box buried deep inside him, or give in,and now,giving in was looking fairly good.
He just wanted, no, needed human touch, he had always brushed off tender offers of a hug from his young,smart but sometimes too emotionally sensitive and touchy-feely partner Juliet O'Hara,even when honestly he craved it. It was all part of his no nonsense,hard nosed cop act,looking at O'Hara like she had lost her fool mind suggesting something as ridiculous as a comforting hug.
Shawn was preparing to get off the bed, his heart heavy with regret,and mentally kicking himself, when Carlton's arm began to rise.
It reached out,slow,tentatively,towards fingers curled briefly,movement paused,as if Carlton feared any contact with Shawn would cause him pain.
The touch came,feather-light on Shawn's chest,and he supressed a sigh of relief,concerned any sound might spook the older man and cause him to retreat.
Silvery tears began to form behind Carton's closed eyelids,and stream down his melted into Shawn,head pressed against the psychic's chest,arms clinging to his waist like a drowning man.
Carlton's hard-assed facade had finally crumbled,and Shawn held him close,stroking the back of his head and murmuring soothingly to him.
Lassiter's body shook with silent sobs,all his deeply buried grief bursting the dam that had held it back for far too wasn't embarressed by the overwhelming display of his emotions, in fact, it was quite was genuinely starting to feel lighter, unburdoned even,and safe and comforted in the young man's arms.
He felt,dare he say it?..peaceful,and nuzzled Shawn's chest,laying the gentlest of butterfly kisses on his check. He took his time,working his way up to the psychic's neck,hearing him utter a soft moan.
It was Shawn's eyes that were squeezed shut now,in bliss as he basked in Carlton's hands, traced lazy circles on Lassiter's healing ribs,tipping his head sideways to allow Carlton to lay kisses on his neck as well.
Lassiter had finally reached Shawn's cheek,letting the younger man's stubble rasp his cheek as he drew back,nose to nose.
Shawn opened his eyes to lock gazes,grass green eyes staring into ocean blue ones that for once did not hold anger,annoyance or murderous intent.
"They're so beautiful."He murmured."And,that one time,when you were trashed at the bar, you said you wanted to get something off your chest...?I was joking when I said I hoped it wasn't your shirt."
Carlton smiled,a genuine,warm smile that set his eyes sparkling as he leaned in, brushing a kiss across Shawn's lips parted for a split second before Carlton crashed into him,lips hungrily seeking Shawn's, his long hidden desire rushing to the laughed breathlessly into the kiss,delighted at the sudden as if Carlton had finally emerged from his coccoon, reborn and beautiful.