This is the first story I'm posting that is not a Harry Potter story. To be honest, I never intended to write anything other than Harry Potter, but this story just wouldn't leave me alone. So, I hope you enjoy my first foray into a fandom other than Harry Potter: a Chuck/Psych crossover.

Timeline:

Psych: Post Season 3, Episode 8: Gus Walks into a Bank

Chuck: Post Season 2, Episode 1: Chuck Versus the First Date

Psych Versus the Emergency Codeword

All Burton Guster, known as Gus to all who knew him, wanted was a nice normal vacation. He deserved it, right? After all the crazy shenanigans that Shawn put him through since they were kids, he needed some time to unwind. And, the latest case had been a doozy. Getting trapped in a hostage situation – courtesy of Shawn being a lazy bum – had taken its toll on the pharmaceutical rep. It was one of the most terrifying experiences Gus had ever been through…well, since starting Psych with his best friend almost two and a half years ago. Following the ordeal, Chief Vick allowed the psychic detective agency to take a leave of absence for awhile, so as to allow Gus some time to recover. They would have at least a month until the SBPD called them in for another case.

It had been about two weeks since the hostage situation and Gus was hell-bent on getting out to a spa for a few days. So, why am I pulling into some Buy More again? Gus wondered. He heard the lapping of someone licking an ice cream coming from the passenger seat. Oh, that's right. It was Shawn, again. It was always Shawn. This time, he decided to tag along on Gus's trip to the spa, a trip that Gus clearly indicated that his best friend was not welcome on. Rather than listening, Shawn jumped in the car, bags already packed. "Where you go, I go, buddy."

Gus resigned himself to sharing the trip with his best friend, hoping that Shawn's hyper side would not come out of hiding. No such luck. Five minutes ago, Shawn decided it was time for a pit stop. More appropriately, it was an ice cream run. Only, his idiot friend went and got ice cream all over his phone, so now it wasn't working right. Gus shook his head as his friend fumbled with his phone, trying desperately to fix his precious device, all while happily licking away at his pineapple-flavored ice cream. And, still he delights in getting his pineapple fix, Gus grumbled, even as I'm trying to find a way to fix his phone. "Why a Buy More, Shawn?" Gus asked. "We could go anywhere to have your phone fixed."

Shawn tapped his temple with the hand holding his phone. "The spirits are insistent that my phone be fixed at a Buy More," Shawn stated in an ominous voice that Gus refused to take seriously.

Gus glared at his friend. "Really Shawn? The psychic shtick? Because we both know you're not really a psychic. You only pretend to be one to stay out of trouble with the SBPD."

"How do you know?" Shawn shot back.

"Because we've been friends since childhood!" Gus retorted.

Shawn huffed. "Fine, Burton McSpoilsport." And there was the nickname. Without fail, Shawn never wasted an opportunity to give Gus some crazy nickname. Although, Gus thought his friend could be a little more creative than that. "If you must know, I worked at a Buy More once."

"For how long?" Gus asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Shawn shrugged noncommittally. Gus eyed him warily. If Shawn could be so blasé about number of jobs on his resume, then how secure was Gus's investment into Psych? His name was on the lease to the building for God's sake! Even if Psych had been operational since mid-2006, it was still no guarantee that Shawn wouldn't grow bored with playing detective before moving on to something else. And, Gus did have another job. "Three hours in 2003. They sold items I knew next to nothing about. It just wasn't the right fit. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm sure that they won't be able to say no to helping out a former employee."

"Former employee?" Gus asked. "You mean…?"

Shawn nodded. "Yep. Burbank, California," Shawn said as Gus pulled his blue Toyota Yaris into the small shopping center where the Buy More was located. Gus was pulling into a parking spot as Shawn continued his explanation. "Spent about a week here, I think. Don't really remember, actually. Come on. Let's go. I want to get my phone fixed."

Gus wished his friend could be just a little more patient. Then again, it was Shawn, so all bets were probably off. Gus made sure the doors were locked before following his friend into the store. Shawn couldn't be trusted in there alone. As he entered the store with a bright yellow sign, Gus began to understand why Shawn had not lasted more than three hours as an employee of this store. It was something of an electronics store. If anyone could have had a shot at a successful career in this store, it certainly was not Shawn.

Speaking of Shawn, his hyper best friend bounded to the end of the store where a round kiosk with a sign reading NERD HERD in big, bold letters hanging above it was situated. He was wasting no time in getting his phone fixed. Privately, Gus wondered what was so important about his phone that he needed it fixed so urgently. His dad? Nah! Shawn disappeared from his father's life as soon as he was able, returning only a few years ago. No matter how much Henry Spencer helped on some of their cases, Shawn wouldn't go running to get his phone fixed in order to receive a call from him. Lassiter? Maybe to torture him, but it was certainly not enough to cause Shawn to go running to the nearest electronics store. Juliet? That was certainly a possibility. Well, if Shawn was going to get his phone fixed, Gus might as well browse a little bit. This might take awhile, he mused.

Pineapple! Of all the ice cream flavors that could have fallen on his phone, thus rendering it completely useless, it had to be his beloved pineapple. Gus, Shawn realized, will never let me live this down. Pineapple was his thing. He never went anywhere unless he had his daily pineapple. He hadn't done so since was a teenager. There was no way he'd start now. And yet, it was his beloved pineapple that forced Shawn into this Buy More, hoping to get it fixed. He was never going to live this down. Gus would not let him forget such a travesty.

As he approached the Nerd Herd station, Shawn hoped his phone could be salvaged. Buying a new phone was not an expense he could afford right now. Nor did he want to. Buying practical things were more Gus's forte. It was Shawn's job to buy the frivolous things. Like the snack zip line that was added in the hours after the hostage situation at Santa Barbara Savings and Loan.

It was a young man with curly brown hair, dressed in a white button-down shirt, black slacks, and a gray tie who was manning the Nerd Herd station. He had a pocket protector on, just above where his nametag was clipped. Chuck, hmm? Shawn noted. He decided that he was going to pull the psychic routine on this guy. It was standard for everyone he met.

"What can I do for you?" the young man asked.

"I sense that you can help me with something…" Shawn started.

Browsing the shelves of a Buy More seemed utterly pointless when Gus had no intention of buying anything. All he wanted to do was spend a nice, relaxing day at the spa. Gus grunted. So long as Shawn was around, Gus had no chance of getting a day to relax. It just wasn't going to happen.

"Can I interest you in anything?"

Gus turned to look at the voice, ready to tell whatever geeky kid that decided to bother him that he was not looking for anything, only to discover that he was not faced with a geeky-looking sales rep. Instead, Gus found that a large man dressed in a bright green shirt. "Um…uh, no thanks," he stammered. "I'm just waiting for someone to finish his business here."

"Would it be possible to change your mind?" he asked.

"I don't think so," Gus replied. He turned to the Nerd Herd station where Shawn was animatedly talking to one of the employees. Oh no! He was pulling the psychic routine on this guy. He had to be; his hand was to his temple, sensing things about the employee – Nerd Herder? – who would be doing the repairs to his phone. Damn it! Why couldn't Shawn contain himself? But then, when has Shawn ever done that? Gus had known Shawn Spencer since they were kids and there was rarely a time in which his was able to settle down.

"What are you staring at?" the Buy More employee grunted.

"Nothing," Gus assured him.

The employee, whose name was John, glared at him. The intense glare he received reminded Gus of a combination of Henry Spencer and Detective Lassiter, as weird as that sounded. "So then, why were you staring at the Nerd Herd station?" he growled.

"My friend is over there," Gus answered.

John grunted. "Carry on then."

Gus parted ways with the Buy More employee, slipping closer to the Nerd Herd station to spy on Shawn. He still didn't trust that his best friend would act appropriately while they were here. And, indeed…Shawn was waving his arms around in a flourish, trying to divine things about the man standing in front of him. "You don't seem like the type of person to work here."

"What makes you say that?" the other man answered.

"You're more intelligent than your coworkers," Shawn observed. "You actually seem to care about this place, as much as you don't want to be here. The spirits are telling me that you are destined for greater things."

"Yeah," the Nerd Herder said slowly. "So, what seems to be the trouble?"

Shawn sighed and began dramatically pointing to his phone. Gus shook his head at his friend's theatrics. It would get him nowhere, as much as he attempted to prove otherwise. "I was simply having a pineapple ice cream cone when it dripped on my phone. Hasn't worked since. I think some of the ice cream might have seeped in through the cracks."

The man stared at him. "Pineapple?" he asked shakily.

Shawn never got the chance to answer. The reaction to word pineapple was instantaneous, and Gus found it rather incredulous that a word as ridiculous as pineapple could cause a storewide panic. Despite Gus's disbelief, it was happening; people were being shuffled out of the store. Damn it, Shawn! Gus thought as he was hurried out of the Buy More. What did you do?

Chuck was thoroughly shaken when Casey approached him. How did that guy know so much about him? Was he a part of that organization Bryce told him about: Fulcrum? "What was that about, Moron?" Casey asked with a grunt. "I thought we were done with the pineapple escape route. After what happened last year with Larkin, I was sure you were through with it."

"Someone was asking a few too many questions while I was working on his phone," Chuck answered. "I thought he might be Fulcrum and needed a way to get to you."

"Was he in the Intersect?" Casey demanded.

Chuck stared at his NSA protector. Well…now that he thought about it. "No." Casey growled and was about to make a retort when Chuck stopped him. "But, he knew things he shouldn't. He knew that I was better than this place; that there had to be a reason I was stuck in this dead-end job."

"So you use the pineapple defense?" Casey scoffed.

"What else was I supposed to do?" Chuck exclaimed. "I wasn't really thinking clearly. All I knew was that I needed to get him away from before someone uncovered that I only work in this store as a cover. No one would suspect that the government's biggest secrets are being concealed in a Buy More."

"Yeah," Casey muttered. "Although, that's only because your idiot CIA pal Larkin decided he was going to throw you to the wolves to protect you. And yet, you still manage to get government secrets in your head, forcing Walker and I into protecting you until a way can be found to get them out. Too bad Graham was killed last week. You might have been out of this by now."

"Yeah," Chuck murmured. He might also be dating Sarah for real.

As they made their way over to Gus's car, Burton Guster glared at his friend. "Shawn, what did you do?" he asked. Of course Shawn was responsible for what happened, although he wasn't sure how.

"What makes you think I did anything?" Shawn asked.

Because I saw you, he thought. "Because I know you."

Shawn shrugged. "All I did was give the guy servicing my phone a psychic reading," he answered. "Then, after I told him what happened to my phone, he sort of flipped out." Shawn pulled the car door open and sat in the passenger's seat. "I don't think he was a fan of delicious flavor."

"Oh, who would?" Gus grumbled as they took off.

"Now I need to get a new phone!" Shawn muttered angrily.

Author's Note: Pineapple. To be honest, I was surprised that no one wrote a story about this sooner. But anyway, now I almost want to write a story about Commander Cameron Luntz and Jack Burton. Or maybe a story about Shawn working at the Burbank Buy More.

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