Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing a fan based fiction, so I would appreciate any and all feedback! This story contains spoilers for Mr. Yin Presents and there are minor references to Death is in the Air.

It was a quiet afternoon in Santa Barbara. A gentle breeze was blowing in off the ocean, lazily mingling with the leaves on the trees, making them flutter and dance before moving on, carrying fresh waves of salt air through the city. On this peaceful, sunny afternoon, Detective Juliet O'Hara was happily enjoying the quiet afternoon behind her desk. She did not often enjoy spending the afternoon cooped up behind her desk, she much preferred examining a crime scene with Lassiter, or following a new lead, or even interrogating a suspect. But Juliet was grateful for the mundane stillness of office work today. She had recently gone through about all of the excitement she could handle. But then, getting kidnapped by a psychotic serial killer and hung over the edge of a clock tower tended to fill up her quota for action packed adventures pretty quickly.

She had been given time off work, but had convinced the Chief to let her work reduced hours in the office instead. There was no way that Juliet wanted to spend a whole week, 168 whole hours, at home by herself. She need at least to be around people, to see them continuing on with their normal everyday activities. Maybe that way, Juliet could forget the events of that horrible night, or the fact that the crazy lunatic that had done those things to her was still out there and they had no idea who he was. Besides, she felt too alone and vulnerable in her own home, with no one to keep her company but her own thoughts. The mere presence of other people bustling around the office was comforting, and made her feel safe in a way that her empty home never could… no matter how many times Lassiter had volunteered to come over and keep her company, or set up surveillance outside.

Glancing across the station, Juliet noticed Lassiter trying to inconspicuously watch her from his own desk. He was not particularly successful at accomplishing this, but Juliet knew that he was just concerned for her. And she would be eternally grateful that he had come to her rescue. So she gave him a small smile before returning her attention to her computer screen. She had of course talked to the department counselor, but he was only marginally helpful. And the one person that she wanted to talk to the most, was suddenly nowhere to be found, and was not even answering his phone or returning her countless messages.

Juliet had not heard a word from Shawn since just after she had been rescued. He had made it to the scene just before Lassiter had given her a ride back home. She could tell that something was wrong, Shawn had asked if she was alright but had seemed detached somehow, as though he were just going through the actions without really realizing what he was doing. But Juliet had her own issues to deal with at the moment, so she had assured Shawn that she was alright and had then allowed Lassiter, who had not given up his protective hold on her since she had cried herself out on his shoulder, to lead her to his car.

She hadn't heard from Shawn since. She could only get a hold of Gus, who told her that Abigail had broken up with Shawn and that he seemed to be having a hard time with the fact that he hadn't been able to catch Yin. Gus had also told her that Shawn had seen Yin, and could have got him, but that he had chose to save Abigail instead. Juliet knew that Shawn had done the right thing, but she could see why he was having a hard time dealing with it. When it came down to it, Yin was still out there. So Juliet had simply told Gus that she hoped Shawn was doing alright and that hopefully they would have a new case to distract him soon.

That had been almost two weeks ago now. And so, Juliet found herself sitting here, just enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by people she knew and trusted when her phone rang. Without thinking, she reached out and picked it up.

"Detective O'Hara" she answered.

"Juliet, I need your help. It might be too late but you have to try - you have to make him see…"

It was Gus, and he was clearly upset about something, but he was talking way too quickly for Juliet to grasp what he was talking about. Immediately her detective instincts took over, and she was surprised at how calm and authoritative her next words sounded.

"Whoa, Gus, calm down, tell me slowly what is going on."

There was a pause and Juliet could hear Gus take a calming breath before continuing.

"It's Shawn." Gus said.

Juliet's heart froze in her chest, and her breath caught in her throat. Shawn, her mind screamed out, and she wondered what could have possibly gone wrong now. She couldn't handle any more drama right now.

"Gus, where is he, is he alright?" she asked, unable to completely mask the sudden panic that was growing in her at Gus's frantic tone.

"I don't know, I mean he's not hurt, but he needs help and I think you're the only one that can get through to him, he wouldn't even listen to me."

"Gus, what is going on, what's wrong with Shawn?"

"He's leaving," Gus stated simply.

"Leaving?" questioned Juliet, "What exactly does that mean Gus, leaving where?"

"I don't know…that's why you have to help me."

There was a pause on the other end of the line as Gus seemed to realize that he was making little sense, and that if he actually wanted Juliet to help him, he was going to have to explain himself better.

"It's what Shawn does when he can't handle something," Gus tried to explain again, "He packs up his stuff, puts the important things into storage and heads out of town. Then the only way that I hear anything from him until he decides to come back is from the occasional postcards he sends. I've tried to follow him before, but if Shawn doesn't want to be found, there is nothing you can do to find him. ."

"Ok, but how can I help? Without a lead or a trail to find I won't have any better luck finding him Gus."

"He hasn't left yet."

"Ok, Gus, I'm confused."

"Look, Juliet, as far as I know I'm the only one that has ever been able to convince him to stay. I'm the only one he'll listen too long enough so that I can talk him out of it. But I couldn't get him to listen this time."

"Gus, I still don't understand…" Juliet tried to say, but Gus quickly interrupted her

"I need your help to make him understand that he can't leave right now. He needs to know that there are people here who care about him and need him. He has Psych, and He's finally starting to get along better with his dad. I tried to talk him out of it, but he won't listen to me this time."

"So what makes you think that I will do any better Gus?"

"Because, you've always been the one that could make him stay around. Do you know how many times he gets that look, and I just know he's thinking about leaving again? And the one thing that always convinces him to stay is you. Look, Juliet, I know he wanted to tell you himself, but if I don't tell you now he's going to leave and I don't know when, or if, he'll come back, so I'll deal with him being angry at me later. Juliet, Shawn is crazy about you. He has been for a long time. And God only knows why he can't tell you, but he is. So when I say you're the only one that can stop him, you have to believe me."

Juliet went silent on her end of the phone, not sure what to say. She knew that Shawn was attracted to her, any idiot could see that. And she had been sure that he had tried to tell her that he loved her once, but he never actually had. Of course she had feelings for him, but the timing had never been right. Juliet really wasn't sure that she believed that she was the only one that could make him stay now. Why would he listen to her, Wasn't Gus his lifelong friend? If Gus couldn't get through to him then Juliet seriously doubted that she could, after all Gus had an arsenal filled with a lifetime's knowledge about Shawn. Juliet had only known him for four years, and only then in a limited fashion. But then surely it must be worth a try, after all, she couldn't imagine life here without Shawn and his antics.

"Alright Gus, what do you need me to do?" Juliet asked

"I don't think that there is enough time to track him down, the only chance you'll get is to stop him on his way out of town. I know which road he'll take. Wait for him at the city limit sign, and make sure he knows it's you. If you can stop him before he gets past there, you'll have a chance."

Juliet glanced down at her watch, it was late enough in the afternoon that she didn't think anyone would object too much if she signed out, especially since she was supposed to take it easy for the next little while anyways.

"Ok, Gus, I'm heading out there now. I'll call you later and let you know how it goes."

"Thanks Juliet," Gus sighed in relief, "Oh, and good luck."

With that, Juliet ended the call and began gathering her things. So much for a quiet afternoon, she thought as she headed out.

End Notes:

Will Juliet get there in time? That's a story for another chapter, which will be coming soon! Let me know what you think.