Hey everyone! A little plot bunny came and ambushed me and would not leave me alone until I wrote this. This story is a oneshot Supernatural/Psych crossover that uses the idea of tricksters which, according to Supernatural, (IMPORTANT STORY NOTE) are demigods who can make anything they want happen in kind of a weird control-the-universe sort-of-way. On with the oneshot!
Lawyers: Our client does not own Psych or Supernatural. Don't sue her.
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The Trickster
Madeline Spencer had everything she could ever possibly want, and yet, she was lonely. Sure, she had the perfect boyfriend that everyone, both men and women alike, was jealous of; a boyfriend who was always there for her and would answer her every beck and call, but none of that mattered because deep down she would always know that he was just an illusion created one lonely night after consuming several tubs of delicious ice cream that would never put a pound on her perfect body. She wanted someone real to love who would love her in return, and a pet just wouldn't cut it this time.
So Madeline waved goodbye to her perfect Fabio who became an innocent victim in a drive-by shooting because a normal breakup would've been far too boring, and while she mourned for him at his perfect funeral, only the best for her favorite illusion, she met Henry Smith, the cop who was investigating her deceased boyfriend's murder. Madeline would never admit it out loud, but she could be a bit clingy for the real things in life, so it was no surprise to her when she fell madly in love with Mr. Smith.
Unfortunately, there was that little thing called free will and it prevented her from controlling Henry the same way she could control her illusions. She knew how to play her cards right though, and it wasn't long before Henry fell madly in love with her. They got married soon after, although he took her last name because Smith was just far too boring for her to live with, and for two wonderful years, they lived their lives in passion.
It was around this time that Madeline was thrilled to discover that she was pregnant. She had always wanted a child, but never forced the reality for fear that her child would come out being as fake as the rest of her illusions. Sure, she would be able to see, smell, and touch the child, she could listen to him or her speak, but she would always know the truth.
The nine months of pregnancy was a wonderful, new experience she wouldn't trade for the world and Henry was there for her every step of the way. Childbirth wasn't as wonderful though and she swore to herself at the time during all of the painful moments that she would never do this again, but as soon as she held her son in her arms, she forgot all about the pain and her silent pacts. It felt as if the world around her disappeared and she and her son, her very real son, were the only ones left.
It was at this moment, as she held this real child that she created in her arms, that she realized she loved her son so much more than she could ever love Henry. In fact, Henry's existence paled in comparison to her son's.
They took him home and named him Shawn.
As the months passed with Shawn in their lives, Madeline found herself liking Henry less and less. The passion at the beginning of their marriage was gone and all of his flaws that she had no control over stood out more than ever. Shawn would always bring new excitement into her life, she knew, but Henry would just continue to be a burden who would always occupy at least half of Shawn's attention. He needed to go.
Upon coming to this decision, the very next day, tragedy struck. When Henry was exiting a coffee shop on his way to work that morning, a child just so happened to chase a ball out into the middle of a busy street. Henry, being the good cop he is, ran out to save her, and while he did push her out of the way in time, he himself was struck and killed by an oncoming truck.
Madeline believed she did him a favor by having him die a hero.
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Shawn Spencer didn't know much about his father, just that he had been an officer of the law and that he died a hero. He knew that he should feel proud of his father, but it was hard to feel pride and love for someone you've never met.
Shawn did love his mother though. She was always there for him. She gave him whatever he wanted and made it so that everything always worked out for them. She was his best friend and his protector. Whenever he got hurt, she would kiss his boo-boos or wave her hand over it for effect and no matter the injury, it would always instantly go away. If someone was picking on him at preschool, she would tell him not to worry, that she would take care of it, and the bully would either never come back to his preschool or never bother him again.
She was his superhero. Supermom.
And no matter the time or the place, she would always whisper to him in a secretive sort-of-way that one day he'd be able to do all of those things too.
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Shawn was more scared than he'd ever been in his entire five-year-old life. He had been fast asleep in his bed when the sound of glass breaking woke him up. Before he even knew what was going on, his mother rushed into his bedroom, picked him up and carried him over to a small door in his bedroom wall that he knew hadn't been there before. The door opened up to what looked like a big cupboard, except there were no spiders. In fact, it was pretty clean inside and there was even carpeting on the floor.
"Mama, what's going on?" Shawn asked quietly, listening to the sounds of glass breaking and wood splintering.
"Shh, baby, it's going to be okay," Madeline said, speaking quickly as she ran her fingers through his hair. "There are some bad men downstairs called hunters. They're dangerous and they want to separate us, but I'm not going to let that happen. I want you to stay in here and don't make a single sound, okay?"
Shawn nodded.
"Don't come out of here until I say it's okay," she said sternly, and Shawn nodded again. "Here's a kitten and a flash light to keep you company. Why don't you come up with a name for the little guy while I'm gone?" she turned on the flashlight, setting it on the ground, and passed the kitten over into Shawn's arms.
"Okay," Shawn said quietly as he held the soft, furry bundle close.
"I love you, honey," Madeline said, giving him a quick kiss before closing the small door.
'Love you too,' he thought back because he remembered that she told him to be quiet.
Shawn sat with his back to the far end of the cupboard. The flashlight was close by and the kitten was resting calmly in his lap. As sounds of a fight drifted up to him, Shawn pet the kitten and tried to block out all of the noise by letting possible names for his new pet run through his head.
'Spiderman, Fluffy, Meow-Mix, Little Paws, Frank...'
There was yelling downstairs and words that he couldn't quite make out were screamed back and forth. Shawn didn't know how much time passed before all of the noise finally stopped, and when it did, the flashlight flickered and died. The room was plunged into darkness and Shawn's breath caught in his throat, but he still didn't make a noise.
Blindly, he reached out for the flashlight. Maybe he just had to shake it to make it work? He couldn't find it though, and now that he thought about it, the kitten was gone from his lap too. He couldn't feel the rug either or the smooth walls, just floor boards and some fluffy insulation stuff.
He froze in his hiding place as the sound of stomping boots came up the stairs. The loud footsteps clomped into his room and Shawn curled into a ball with his hands over his head. He could hear the quiet murmuring of voices, but couldn't hear what they were saying. After the scary hunters stopped talking, they clomped out of his room and back down the stairs.
Even after the house grew silent with their departure, Shawn didn't move or make a sound. His mom told him to wait until she came to get him, so he waited and waited until his eyes grew heavy from waiting. He wished so much for her to come and get him, he was scared and he wanted one of her special hugs that always made him feel better. He never heard the sounds of her footsteps though or her soft voice telling him that everything was going to be okay now.
As he waited, he wished so much that he at least had the kitten she gave him to keep him company. He decided now that he would name the kitten Pineapple because that was his and his mom's favorite fruit.
Suddenly, there was a tiny squeak of a meow and little furry paws climbed up onto his lap. Shawn hugged the kitten close, happy that it had returned, and wished so much now that he could get out of his hiding place and find his mom. The hunters had left a while back, so he was sure the coast was clear.
The small door that had disappeared along with the carpet reappeared on the wall once again. Shawn waited a few minutes more, just to make sure he didn't hear anything, before he hesitantly opened the door. Peaking outside, he hoped that his mom wouldn't be too mad about him coming out before she came to get him.
To his confusion and surprise, when he opened the door, he saw that everything in his room was gone. All that was left was a couple piles of clothes that he was sure had been put away in the dresser. The mean hunters must have taken everything else when they left. Very quietly, he crept out of his hiding place and went into his mom's room first since it was right next to his room. The hunters had taken everything in her room too, and as Shawn slowly made his way downstairs with Pineapple the kitten still in hand, he saw that the hunters had taken everything in his house. Everything was completely gone.
"Mama?"
She didn't answer. Thinking she was hiding too, Shawn searched the whole house twice over, but he couldn't find her.
"Mama?"
That's when he saw it, glittering in the light of the sunrise, the wedding ring his mother always kept hanging from a chain around her neck.
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Shawn's short legs were quickly growing tired from walking. His mother was... gone. He didn't know where, but he was sure the hunters had something to do with it. She never would have purposely left him alone otherwise.
So he took her ring because he knew she would want him to keep it safe, and with Pineapple in his arms, he left the house and started walking. He didn't really know where he was going or what he was doing, but he knew he didn't want to stay in the empty house any longer.
When he didn't think he could walk any longer, a police car pulled up next to him and two officers got out of the car and walked over to him.
Kneeling down next to him, the first officer asked kindly, "Hey, little guy, what are you doing out here so early in your pajamas?"
Shawn shrugged, not really sure what to say, and adjusted his hold on Pineapple.
"That's a cute kitten you got there," the second lady officer said. "What's her name?"
"Pineapple," Shawn said quietly, looking down at his kitten rather than at the officers.
"That's a nice name," the lady officer said. "Does Pineapple live around here?"
Shawn shook his head, "She's lost."
"Well, it's kind of cold out here for a kitten, don't you think? Why don't we take you and Pineapple down to the police station and see how we can help you two," the second officer said, holding out her hand.
Shawn's mom always said he could trust police officers, that his father was an officer and that they're there to help, so his took the lady police officer's hand and climbed into the backseat with his kitten.
"Nice job, Nielson," the first officer said as he climbed into the driver's seat once they were sure Shawn was all buckled in.
They brought him down to the station and sat him down in a comfy chair with a couple toys and a muffin for breakfast. Pineapple even got a little bowl of water to drink from. The nice lady police officer stayed with him the whole time too, talking to him and asking questions about him and Pineapple, and when she had to leave for a few minutes, there was someone else to take her place and keep him company while she was gone.
It seemed like hours had passed and they kept asking questions about his parents and where he lived, and he didn't know what to tell them. He didn't know where his mom had gone and he didn't want to go back to his empty house. What if the hunters came back to get him?
Tears ran down his face like rivers and his nose got all stuffed up. He didn't want to be at the police station anymore! He wanted his parents! Even his dad, Henry, who he never met! He didn't care about anything else, or anything that had happened, he just wanted his mom and dad!
"Shawn! Thank God I've found you!"
Shawn's breath caught in his throat and he blinked away at the tears as he looked up to see his father rushing through the station.
"Daddy!" he called out brokenly.
"Where were you? I've been looking everywhere for you," his dad said as he swept Shawn up into his arms.
"I found a kitty," Shawn murmured into his dad's chest. "Can I keep it?"
"Sure, I'm just so happy I found you."
"This is your son?" the officer lady asked.
"Yes, my wife and I came here to vacation with Shawn and he snuck out of the hotel," his dad said.
"I'm going to have to see some identification and you'll need to fill out some paper work," the officer lady said.
"I know the drill," his dad said as he set Shawn down so that he could pull out his police badge. "Henry Spencer of the Santa Barbara Police Department. It's a nice little town in California."
Santa Barbara, huh? Shawn did love the beach.
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Shawn loved his new dad because Henry wasn't perfect. He did things that annoyed Shawn. He was very strict and punished Shawn when he did something bad, but he was also there for Shawn like a father should be. Shawn loved that Henry wasn't perfect because parents weren't supposed to be perfect. They were flawed, like those dinged-up cans in the half-off bin at the supermarket and it was those flaws that would help Shawn grow into the person he was supposed to be.
Shawn, however, did not like his new mom. Unlike his dad, Shawn remembered who his real mom was and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get this fake version of his mom to even come close to matching up. He still missed his real mom very much and he didn't like the idea of trying to replace her.
So instead of trying to make fake mom like his real mother, Shawn decided to change things about her. One day, fake Madeline woke up with her hair a different color. She decided to go by Maddie instead of Madeline. She stopped liking pineapple and her mannerisms and personality changed too.
And on the days when Shawn was missing his real mom the most, bad things would happen to fake Madeline. She would sprain her ankle walking out to the mailbox, trip down the stairs, accidentally cut herself with a knife or burn herself while cooking. Each time, Henry would scold Shawn, telling him that he shouldn't do those things to Maddie, but he'd also hold Shawn close and tell him that he missed Shawn's mother too.
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Shawn had limited control over the real people around him. While he could manipulate them with words the same way a quick witted police officer could talk a criminal into doing what he or she wanted, Shawn couldn't just will them to do something like step out in front of an oncoming vehicle.
Shawn could control things about himself though, so one day when he was looking through an encyclopedia for pure boredom's sake, he came across a passage on photographic memory and thought, 'Wouldn't that be cool? I'd never have to study for another stupid test again!'
So he willed it, and so it came to be.
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The thing Shawn liked most about his friendship with Gus was that it hadn't been planned at all. He didn't need to do any smooth talking and he didn't need to will a series of events to happen that would lead to their friendship. They just somehow ended up becoming friends, and eventually best friends because Gus had become Shawn's friend, a real friend, of his own free will without any manipulation needed.
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Shawn couldn't stand fake Maddie anymore. She just got in the way and was too painful of a reminder to him. When she and his dad didn't think he was listening, they would argue about how Shawn treated her, how he didn't respect her. His dad would tell her that Shawn was still hurting over the loss of his mother, that it was a pain that would never quite go away. Fake Maddie would then yell back that Henry should be taking her side, that he was just enabling Shawn's behavior.
Finally, after many years of this ongoing battle, Shawn decided that fake Maddie needed to go. He didn't want her to be completely gone though; he just couldn't do something like that to her even if she was a fake mom. So his parents decided to get a divorce. Fake Maddie left Shawn with Henry and never looked back.
A morbid part of Shawn wondered if she would just disappear if he ever stopped thinking about her.
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Shawn's attention span never improved as he got older and he got bored very easily. So upon graduating from high school, he left Santa Barbara behind and traveled around the country and beyond. He had all sorts of exciting adventures, but he always made sure to write home every once and a while to both Gus and his father. Unlike fake Maddie, a part of him was worried that if he ever stopped contact with his dad, stopped thinking of him always being there, that Henry would disappear.
His dad never approved of his wild life. He would always say that Shawn should join the police force and use his abilities for something more productive. Still, even though he didn't approve of Shawn constantly moving around and changing jobs, he never stopped sending a couple responding postcards back.
It was when Shawn was on the road that Henry had a particularly nasty run-in with a criminal and got hurt, something that Shawn hadn't planned on happening. So Shawn decided that it was time for his dad to retire and go do something that he wanted to do. It came as a bit of a surprise to him later on when he found out that after retiring, Henry moved away.
He decided to let his dad have some time to himself, but when Shawn moved back to Santa Barbara, he made sure Henry did too. That's when the whole psychic thing happened. Like Gus' friendship, it had been completely unexpected and not planned by him at the time. However, Shawn had so much fun solving that first case that he decided he wanted to keep something like this going.
Santa Barbara was usually a very dull town crime-wise. A murder case came every once in a blue moon. Shawn decided that that needed to change and suddenly Santa Barbara became a hot spot for criminal activity and he was just the psychic to be called in for each case.
It was perfect. He didn't think he'd ever be bored again.
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Shawn wasn't sure how they found out about him, but a couple of hunters were snooping around Santa Barbara, watching his every move. He never forgave the hunting community for killing his mother, and now was his chance to get back at them. He'd have to be smart about how he handled it though; even more tricky than your average trickster.
So for the first couple of days upon finding out that he was being followed by hunters, Shawn was sure to make it very clear to everyone in the station that he believed he was being stalked by strange men. With the seeds of suspicion planted in his coworker's minds, Shawn then sent out a fake attractive young woman to approach the hunters, flirt with them and see what they would say. She reported back to him later and after giving him a description as to what the hunters looked like, she confirmed that they were asking questions about Santa Barbara's psychic detective.
Shawn knew that the threat of a stalker alone wouldn't push the police into action, so he summoned up a fake boxer to give him a few bruises and a black eye. That was his least favorite part of the plan, but it would all be worth it in the end. Ruffling up his clothes a bit and tearing one sleeve, Shawn stumbled into the station that night and gave a clear description of the three men who attacked him, the three men he was sure had been following him for days now.
While the police searched for these men, Shawn put the final nail in the coffin by calling up Lassi and Jules with a distressed plea for help just before he approached the hunters and antagonized them into attacking him. He made a run for it and they took chase. Since it was night time, there weren't too many people on the road or in the streets, so it would be quite easy for the SBPD to spot him and the three men chasing him.
Eventually, the hunters caught up to him and tackled him to the ground, but just as they pulled out a wooden stake, several police cars swarmed around them, boxing them in. In a split second, over a dozen guns were trained on the hunters.
"Drop your weapon!" Lassi snarled.
They had no choice but to surrender.
They were arrested and taken in for questioning. They tried to pin several crimes on Shawn to justify their actions, but all of the evidence was against them and Shawn had a strong alibi for each accusation. For example, how could Shawn have caused an arson fire downtown if he had been at the station in the presence of several officers including Detective Lassiter the whole time? The hunters didn't have a leg to stand on.
Revenge was sweet.
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Shawn Spencer had everything he could ever possibly want in life, yet even with his best friend at his side, he was lonely. Sure, he had an exciting, perfect job, an annoying but caring father, many coworkers he could count on, and all of the pineapple he wanted, but none of that mattered because he wanted the one thing that he couldn't will into existence. He wanted someone real to love who would love him in return, and he had a perfect someone in mind.
Unfortunately, there was that little thing called free will, but Shawn knew how to play his cards right.
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Juliet O'Hara usually didn't go for the immature, smooth-talker who needed to wake up and realize that he wasn't all that, and she definitely didn't go for the whole 'office romance' thing... Although technically Shawn Spencer was just a consultant and not actually a member of the police force.
She didn't know why, but there was something... otherworldly about him that drew her to him. He was almost perfect in every way, and maybe she was just feeling the aftershocks of gratitude and hero worship after he saved her life from that surprise ambush, but Juliet found herself falling madly in love with Shawn Spencer and she just didn't care to stop herself.
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That's all folks! Weird plot bunny, right? You may be wondering what happened to Madeline's body. Well, if I remember correctly, in Supernatural, when the trickster supposedly died, he faded away. Even though that was a faked death, I'm just going with that. Hopefully it wasn't too confusing. Review please and tell me what you think!