Disclaimer: I don't own Psych or any of its related characters. This is just for my own enjoyment and the potential enjoyment of other Psych-Os like me, and no monetary gain was expected or received.

Rating: M+, just in case

Spoilers: Through Season 4 episode 16, "Mr. Yin Presents"

A/N: This is a "what if" story that goes AU from the end of season four onward. The first chapter is in the First Person Present tense, which I hate, but which seemed to fit best for the very moment-to-moment nature of a life-and-death situation. That said, I hate it, and further chapters will be Third Person Past tense. This first chapter does kind of work as a one-shot, actually, but I don't want to do the rest as sequels so I'M NOT GOING TO, NEENER NEENER NEENER.

THIS IS WHERE THE STORY STARTS THIS IS WHERE THE STORY STARTS

Chapter One: A Race Against the Clock; or, Got Yer Back, Partner

Carlton

When that bastard Yin took my partner, this case got real personal real quick.

And where was I? Stuck in a goddamn prop car with Henry By-God Spencer, that's where, and if you think that doesn't piss me right the hell off then you don't know me, Buster Brown. When I finally got out of there to where O'Hara disappeared I was seething, and seeing just how that bastard got hold of her only made me angrier. Sweet Lady Justice, O'Hara, what the hell were you expecting would happen when you pulled a beer tap set up as part of a serial killer's sick game? Did you think that confetti and party balloons would just drop from the ceiling?

Mr. Nice Guy pipes up in my head and tries to be "fair" about it. Tries to tell me that I probably would have pulled the damn thing, too, if it had been me, but that's a load of road apples and a clear indication of why my Mr. Nice Guy side has no business getting involved in police business. It was a rookie mistake, plain and simple, and O'Hara isn't a rookie anymore. It almost qualifies as a dumb blonde mistake, and O'Hara has never struck me as a dumb blonde, not even during that whole Mary Baumgartner undercover op. Anything could have happened when she pulled that tap, a trapdoor was only the most obvious. Could have been a goddamn shotgun trap, for crying out loud.

I have to keep pushing the thought of that unpleasant possibility out of my mind as we search for signs of her. I would very much not like to come across my partner with her face blown off by a ten-gauge, or with her guts blown open. I've got a very highly detailed imagination when it comes to that kind of thing, because I've seen exactly what it looks like, and believe me, it's worse than it sounds. Even if you're currently running to the bathroom to vomit, it's worse than it sounds. You really can't ever get used to seeing things like that, you know, no matter what television or movie cops might say. Oh, sure, you learn to suppress the gag reflex, and you can even compartmentalize the horror and revulsion to the point where it looks like you're all business, but you'll dream about it at night - if you manage to sleep. I usually don't.

And then we're back at the station and Spencer pipes up and says that Yin was going to go after that little ninny who has the bad sense to date him, Abigail Lytar, and we have to send McNab to pick her up at the airport. McNab might be a six and a half foot waste of oxygen but he's a cop, dammit, one of mine, and even though they tell me he's going to be okay it's just one more goddamn thing that makes me want to nail this asshole Yin to the wall - literally, not figuratively. So after all is said and done Yin has two hostages, one of them a civilian, and we don't know where either of them are.

When O'Hara calls, and I hear her say those words that bastard is forcing her to say, hear how calm and professional she's trying to be despite the fact that she's the prisoner of a sick mother fucker whose teeth I'd like to feed to him individually…well, let's just say it's a wonder I don't put my fist right through Spencer's face, just for being a handy target. When he figures out O'Hara is at the clocktower and the Chief says we can't give O'Hara priority, I know she's right. So fine, send the entire goddamn PD out to rescue Lytar, if Spencer can figure out where she is - I'm going for my partner. That's what partners are for.

Juliet

This…is not how I expected my story to end. I'm not like Lassiter, I don't want to die gloriously in a blaze of gunfire saving the world from injustice, but if that was the way it had to be I could accept it. This…this is not glorious. This is nasty, and brutal, and cruel and unusual, and a whole bunch of other things that I don't even want to think about right now, or ever. Not that I'm likely to get the chance.

I'm not scared. That's what I tell myself, anyway, what I've been telling myself ever since I came to and realized where I was, who I was with. Carlton must be so angry with me, I can just imagine it. Sweet Lady Justice, O'Hara, what were you expecting would happen when you pulled a beer tap set up as part of a serial killer's sick game? Did you think that confetti and party balloons would just drop from the ceiling? It almost makes me smile, listening to that gruff, growly voice berating me in my own head. Then it almost makes me cry, because I know he's going to feel guilty about my…my…my death.

I'm trying to stay cool, calm, and professional. I'm trying not to think about the fact that in a half hour or so I'm going to be a cool, calm, and professional grease stain on the street below. So far below. They'll save Abigail, and that's good. That's right, because Abigail is just an innocent bystander. I'm a cop, this is what I signed up for. Well, not this, exactly, but the whole…life-on-the-line-for-the-public thing. And it will all work out for the best in the end, because if Shawn doesn't catch this guy, Carlton for sure as hell will now. He may not be psychic, but he's like a bulldog and he will not give up, especially now…now that it's personal.

So I sit here and wait, because I have no choice but to sit and wait. I do not pray for rescue. I just think of the faces of my family, my friends, and I hope they'll be okay. The clock…keeps ticking.

Carlton

The clock is ticking as we race to the tower, and I pray to God we're not too late. Spencer sent his Official Stand-In along, which doesn't surprise me, but it seems like most of the department is right behind me, too, which does. Maybe the Incredible Spenstar couldn't figure out where Yin stashed Lytar, after all. I'll feel sorry for the poor girl later - she didn't deserve what she got, not even if she was stupid enough to fall for Spencer - but right now I don't have time.

Guster and I race into the building, and the Chief isn't far behind us. There's an out-of-order sign on the elevators, probably Yin's handiwork, and it might be a complete dupe but there's no time to waste checking. I barely hear Vick telling me that she's going to set up a perimeter - there's only one thing I care about right now, and she's at the top of a tall stairway. I lead, Guster follows. I don't know if he's behind me because he's too afraid of what we might find at the top to outpace me like he usually does, or if it's because he's a born follower and Spencer isn't here for him to follow, or if I'm just moving too damned fast for him to do more than keep up. I do know that I've never climbed stairs so fast in my life.

Yin isn't here, and I didn't really expect him to be, but O'Hara is. The bastard has tied her to a goddamn chair and hung her off the side of the building, tethered by a hot wire to the face of the clock. I don't know that the hands of the clock would be enough to cut or dislodge that wire, and I don't care to find out. Thank God Guster is here - he keeps the minute hand still while I look for a way to stop it permanently. Apparently the mechanism is goddamned strong, because Guster is having trouble holding it. There's nothing else I can see to do, so I jam my Glock into the gears. I don't need the gun - if Yin shows his face he's going over the edge of this goddamn tower if I have to go with him.

Juliet

I hear the sirens and I know they've come for me. I hope that doesn't mean they haven't been able to find Abigail, because I wouldn't want to live knowing someone else had to die. I do allow myself to hope, a little, that there can be a happy outcome for both of us, but I don't let myself get carried away. They still have to get to me, after all, and I don't know exactly what kind of game Yin intends to play. The thought of Carlton charging to the rescue only to be met with tripwires and bombs…I can't think about that. If it's Carlton coming for me then he would charge right through heedless of danger, because that's the way he is. He'd like everyone to believe that he's Mr. Logic but he's one of the most emotionally-driven people I know.

I can't take the thought of my partner being hurt because of me. I offer up a prayer to Whoever might be watching that he'll be okay.

And then my miracle happens, because he's there, he's there with…Gus? That comes as a bit of a surprise. I mean, Carlton and Shawn I might have expected, or Shawn and Gus, but Carlton and Gus? It's almost absurd enough to make me laugh if I weren't so close to crying at this point. One of them - I think it's Gus, but at this point they both sound like Tony Bennett for some reason, and I can't tell them apart at all - tells me that it's going to be okay, they're going to save me, and I nod to let them know I understand even though I'm really afraid to move. It has to have been Gus, because Carlton wouldn't waste precious time trying to comfort me.

It takes them a long time, it seems, to do whatever it is they're doing. I don't know why they can't just grab the f-f-f-flipping chair and pull me off this ledge, but maybe they're afraid Yin booby-trapped it, or that they might accidentally push me over in their haste. Finally I hear the yelling stop, and both men wrap their arms around me and haul me back from the abyss. Carlton works at getting me unstrapped from the chair while Gus gently pulls the duct tape off of my mouth. I hear Carlton radio in to Vick that I'm safe, and he sounds like Carlton again, not Tony Bennett.

Now there are people everywhere - Chief Vick, uniformed officers, EMTs. One EMT is buzzing around me like a fly, trying to get me to go with him to the hospital. Why on earth would I want to go to the hospital? I'm not hurt. Just leave me alone, dammit, just leave me be. But EMTs are harder to get rid of than ex-boyfriends and this one just isn't going away and I'm ready to slap him.

Then Carlton moves in. Carlton, the only person I know who can successfully intimidate an EMT, an ability that drives me nuts whenever I'm trying to get him treatment but which I bless wholeheartedly now as he sends my buzzing fly scurrying. I figure he'll leave me alone, that's all I want and God knows if it were him he wouldn't let anyone close, but he doesn't go away. I'm angry with him for it - no, I'm pissed at him for it - but he won't leave me alone. Next thing I know, he has his arms around me, he's hugging me, and for once it's not awkward or half-hearted, he's got me and he's not going to let me fall. I can't help it. I'm safe and I'm with friends and there's no holding back everything I've been fighting so hard not to show. I crumple against his chest and I cry like a baby. I can hear him muttering words that don't make any sense to me, and I don't think they're supposed to - he's just talking so that I know he's here. He's here, and somehow I'm starting to think he always will be. For me. Because he's my partner.

Carlton

It's all turned out all right, thank God. Spencer and his father managed to save Lytar after all, and O'Hara is safe now, too. Of course that idiot Spencer managed to let Yin escape, but under the circumstances I suppose I understand. What I don't understand is why there wasn't a single uniformed officer with him, but maybe there wasn't time.

O'Hara is playing tough, which is a relief. I don't think she's quite as together as she's trying to make us think, and I can certainly understand that, but I'm not good at dealing with emotional breakdowns and seeing her, of all people, blubbering and wailing would leave me seriously out of my element so I'm glad she's not making it an issue. Or at least not yet. Frankly I'm not too sure how far off I am from my own breakdown. I don't like thinking about how close we cut it.

Vick comes up with the CSU and a handful of EMTs, and it's not my problem anymore. Except of course it's still my problem, she's my partner, dammit, we're meant to look after each other and I would help her now if I knew how.

And now I see that one of the EMTs has got hold of her, he's trying to make her go with him but the dumb bastard can't see he's only pushing her closer to losing control. I don't think about it, I just move. I muscle the guy out of the way and he finally gets the hint, but when I look at O'Hara again I realize I acted too late - she's losing it, and losing it fast.

I don't know what else to do so I reach out for her and she fights me. We're still on top of the tower and not too far from the edge, so if she gets hysterical there's a chance she'll end up going over. I don't have a choice. Drilled into me ever since my days at the Academy is the mantra "control the situation," so that's what I have to do. I grab O'Hara and pull her into a tight hold meant to keep an hysterical subject from hurting themselves or others. A civilian could be forgiven for mistaking it for a hug.

She crumbles and it's as bad as I feared it would be. I'm just not good with tears - ask my ex if you want to hear about it - and O'Hara's are harder to deal with than most, because I've gotten so used to her strength. But she's my partner, and she's hurting, and she needs me, so I'm here for her. While she cries I tell her all those stupid, inane things you're supposed to say - you know, "Calm down, it's okay, it's all right, everything's fine…" It doesn't mean anything and I know it. She doesn't have to calm down and everything isn't fine, dammit, she was about a minute away from being road pizza, and if that doesn't give her a perfect excuse to flip out then nothing does. It's just what you're supposed to say. It doesn't matter if she hears me, or understands. I can stand here for hours, if she needs me to - hell, I can stand here for days. The only thing she has to know is I'm here for her. Because I'm her partner.