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12 year old Shawn Spencer walked through the white picket fence gate with heavy feet and a sweaty back. His backpack felt like it weighed a ton, and his stomach was turning in ways he didn't want to think about. In a nutshell, he felt awful, just short of the walking dead. He had felt fine that morning while he was walking to school, but after lunch, he started to feel clammy and uncomfortable. It had gone downhill from there.
"Shawn, come here, I've got something to show you." Mr. Spencer said after seeing his son arrive. Shawn ignored him and trudged inside, wanting only to curl up on the couch and watch a cartoon. He slammed the screen door closed and shrugged his backpack off. He wiped sweat from his forehead and kicked off his shoes randomly, watching one land under the kitchen table and the other land somewhere near the refrigerator. He forced his feet to drag him to the couch and he grabbed the remote before slouching into the soft cushions of the sofa. He flipped on the TV and began scanning through the channels until he came upon one of his favorite shows.
"Shawn, come on. There's so much more to do on a Friday afternoon than watch TV." Mr. Spencer exclaimed, walking inside and taking the sunglasses off of his nose. Shawn just curled deeper into the comfort of the couch and watched the superhero defeat the villain through half-closed eyes. Was it always like that? Why doesn't the bad guy ever win? Shawn thought to himself, taking a deep breath. Mr. Spencer stomped sternly to the couch and glared down at his son.
"Get up Shawn. You're going to help me with something." He seethed, grabbing him by the arm and walking around the back of the couch to pick Shawn up and walk him out the door. Once they were outside, Shawn squinted against the bright sun and stumbled against even the slightest dip in the ground.
"Dad…" he moaned, trying to get away from his tight grip. He didn't have enough energy to escape, so he stayed put, tripping over his own two feet as he walked.
"Shawn, don't whine, this is for your own good." Mr. Spencer stood Shawn next to his truck and disappeared behind it for a moment, coming back with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge. Shawn grimaced. He knew what that meant. He was going to have to wash his Dad's truck in the heat, feeling as heavy as a rock and as slow as molasses.
"Dad, please don't make me do this." Shawn said, slouching his shoulders and furrowing his eyebrows. His stomach did a flip. "Please."
"No Shawn, no pleading." He said, shoving the bucket and sponge into his hand. Shawn stood there for a moment, watching his Dad sit in a lawn chair and put on his shades. "Come on Shawn, I don't have all day." Mr. Spencer took a glass of lemonade and raised it to his lips. The mere thought of eating or drinking anything made Shawn want to vomit, so he turned away and began to wash the truck.
Slosh…Slosh… went the water in the bucket. Splish…Splash…went the contents of his stomach. Shawn pushed on regardless. Back and forth he moved the sponge, dipping the sponge into the bucket every once in a while. Suddenly, Shawn's innards lurched.
"Dad?"
"Yeah Shawn?" He replied.
"I'm gonna-" Shawn clutched his stomach with both hands and rocked forwards.
"Shawn," Mr. Spencer cried, running forwards. "Don't get it on my truck!"
But too late. Shawn threw up all over the hood of the truck, gagging and coughing. After spewing out what seemed like his entire lunch, he wiped his mouth and spat.
"Shawn! Now look what you did. Clean it up." Mr. Spencer said, throwing his hands up in the air. Shawn looked up at him. He didn't have the energy or the will to even blink, so his eyes said, "why bother to ask?". "Sh-Shawn, don't look at me like that-… You know what, fine. Come inside and I'll get your mother to deal with you while I clean this up." He tried to usher Shawn in gently, but seeing that Shawn felt too sick to walk, he carried him piggy-back into the house and laid him down on the couch in front of the television.
"I'll be right back." Mr. Spencer said, running up the stairs. Shawn closed his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep…
Present…
"No Shawn, that's not how it works." Gus cried, glaring at Shawn.
"Actually, last time I checked, that's how karma worked."
"Shawn, pulling a prank on someone for no reason isn't Karma." Gus growled, wiping the remaining window paint off of the windshield of his beloved company car.
"Look, I got back at you for something, you'll just have to figure it out." Shawn said calmly, staring somewhere off into the distance.
"Whatever Shawn, but if this stuff stains, you're paying for it."
"Gus! You seem to forget, I'm your best friend." Shawn said, turning around.
"What about it?"
"Best friends don't pay for the things that their best friends ruined." Shawn retorted. Gus snorted.
"Shawn, I didn't do this. You did!"
"Sure Gus, believe whatever makes you happy."
Gus wiped down the windows vigorously as Shawn watched for a moment before spotting a familiar someone a few yards away.
"Jules! Just the person I wanted to see." Shawn said, arms out. Juliet didn't smile.
"Actually, you're the person I wanted to see. Let's talk in your office." She said, making a turn for the Psych building. Shawn followed and stayed close behind as Juliet led.
After they were safely hidden inside of Spencer's office, they both sat down across from each other, Spencer sitting behind his desk, and Juliet sitting in a chair in front of the desk. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Shawn asked, picking up a blank piece of paper and crumpling it up into the rough shape of a ball.
"Well," Juliet said, watching Shawn shoot the paper ball into the miniature basketball hoop over the trash bin. "You see, there's been a suicide not too far away from here."
Shawn turned to Juliet with mock-decorum. "A suicide?"
"Yes. A suicide. Officials are saying that a young woman named Juna Warden was found on her bathroom floor with a bottle of some kind of medication in her hand. They ran a test and they think that she may have overdosed on her prescription, but I think otherwise. I looked at the papers, and I found that the woman didn't even have the prescription in her system. It was some kind of synthetic poison. I tried to get people to listen to me," Juliet pulled out a vanilla envelope from her back and set it on the desk. "but they wouldn't listen. They're convinced that it was just suicide. I think it's murder." Juliet opened the envelope and pulled out some papers. She handed them two Shawn, who took them out of her hands eagerly.
Shawn began to go over the papers. "These are the test results?" Juliet nodded and pointed to a section on the page.
"You see this? It says negative. Somehow, they missed the most important piece of evidence. Right underneath it, it says positive."
"That's the synthetic poison." Shawn whispered to himself, putting a thumb on his bottom lip. "I just don't understand how they missed something this important."
"Well, maybe they saw the poison and thought that maybe she made it herself, but I went a little deeper and investigated a bit, and there wasn't a single trace of it in the house except for a bit on the faucet of the sink in the bathroom."
Shawn stood up and walked into the miniature kitchen a few feet away. "Do you want anything? I've got soda and expired cheese." He said motioning to the fridge. Juliet shook her head sternly.
"Shawn, this is important. If it really is murder, then there is a murderer on the loose." She said, her voice going low at the word murderer.
"Relax, I'm on it. I've got all the evidence I need right here." Shawn said, waving the papers in the air. "Besides, name one time when I've failed you."
Juliet gave a breathy laugh. "Well, there was that one time when you-" Shawn interrupted her.
"Actually, don't answer that." Shawn said quickly, knowing all too well that his distracted and lazy lifestyle had failed many people. Juliet stood up and nodded to Shawn.
"Here's the address," she handed Shawn a slip of paper. "this is between you and me only. Don't let anyone else but Gus know about this. Chief told me specifically not to go out of the lines on this case. She said that it's a suicide and nothing more. She just doesn't want to get the office into something that might not even be there. So don't tell anyone." She said under her breath, leaning in close. She was so close that Shawn could smell the light perfume that Juliet usually wore. It made his mind reel when she wore it, there was just something about it… about her… Shawn shook his head and pulled back.
"I got it, and no one will know but Gus and Mr. Murphy." Shawn said, flashing a devilish grin at Juliet.
Juliet glared at him. "Mr. Murphy? Shawn, when I said not to tell anyone, I meant everyone."
"Juliet, you seem to misunderstand. I meant my goldfish Mr. Murphy. I got him as a present after solving the underwater marine life mystery. Turns out, seaweed can kill a man." Shawn clarified, contradicting Juliet.
"Oh. Okay." Juliet said, looking at Shawn's goldfish that sat on a shelf.
"Shawn, I thought we determined that Mr. Murphy was mine." Gus cried, looking in from the window. Shawn strode casually over to the window and drew the blinds.
"Don't mind Gus. He's just jealous that he didn't get a goldfish too." There was a tap behind the closed shade and Gus's muffled voice came through the glass.
"I'm not jealous Shawn. I just don't think it's fair that you get all the cool stuff!"
Shawn leaned in close to Juliet. "He's jealous." He said quietly, just loud enough that Gus could hear him.
"Shawn!"
"Well, that's my cue. You better leave. Gus gets a little over-protective when it comes to property that isn't his." Shawn said, leading Juliet out the door.
"Okay, I'll check in tomorrow. Call me immediately if you get any leads. Bye Shawn." She called back as she walked away. He waved to her, watching until she got into her car and drove off.
"That wasn't cool Shawn," Gus said, stomping into the door and throwing the multicolored towel he used to wash his car at Shawn. "I earned Mr. Murphy fair and square."
"Okay, fine. He's yours." Shawn said, shutting the door and throwing the towel in a trash bin nearby. "I didn't like him anyways. He seemed to just stare at me all the time. While I worked, while I ate, while I showered-"
"While you showered?" Gus furrowed his eyebrows and made an angry face. "You took Mr. Murphy into the bathroom while you showered?" He exclaimed, picking up the fishbowl and looking down into it.
"Actually, I was taking a bath and decided that maybe Mr. Murphy might want a bigger place to swim for a while, and besides, there weren't any bath toys! A bath without bath toys is just plain boring." Shawn said coolly.
"That's disgusting Shawn! You probably have some weird fish disease now." Gus said heatedly.
"Do you think I'll grow gills?"
"No. What's that in your hand?" Gus asked, putting the fishbowl on his desk. "Are those test results?"
"Yes, they're test results, and we have ourselves a new case." Shawn replied, handing them to Gus.
"This doesn't make sense, it says negative on everything. How is it a case at all?"
"Well, a young woman committed suicide a few blocks away from here."
"So?"
"Jules wants us to investigate the scene. She thinks that it was murder. You see that, at the bottom of page four? That's synthetic poison. She doesn't know what it's made from, all she knows is that the only trace of it was found on the faucet of the sink where the so called "murder" was committed." Shawn titled his head to one side, looking up at Gus.
"This isn't just any poison Shawn. It's made up of more than seven different highly dangerous medications. I've heard that it can kill a human being in less than an hour." Gus scowled down at the papers, glancing up at Shawn for only a few moments before going back to the results.
"Okay, do you know which ones?"
"Of course I do Shawn. I would get fired if I didn't." Gus said, shoving the papers back into Shawn's arms.
"Could you possibly tell me?" Shawn said Following Gus by pivoting his head a bit and then turning to follow his movements. "It would help." He said sarcastically.
"I can't tell you. It's company rules."
"What? That's a stupid rule."
"It's their policy Shawn. If I tell anyone and they find out, I'll get fired, and if I get fired, I won't have any money, and if I don't have any money, we lose the office, and if we lose the office, no more cases for you." Gus clarified, putting a smart look on his face after he finished.
"Alright. Fine, but we're going to go investigate, and if you find any of the secret medication just give me a signal."
"What's the signal?"
"The signal goes like this." Shawn twitched his eyebrows three times and then smiled darkly. "That's it. It's discreet, and no one will notice."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's go."
OOO Psych OOO
Gus parked his car in the driveway of the Warden's home, taking the keys out of the ignition. It was a simple little house with flowerboxes in every window and pale pink trim.
"Who would want to murder someone who lived here? It looks like my grandmother's house." Gus said, unbuckling himself and letting the seatbelt slide from his hand.
"I know," Shawn unbuckled as well. "I remember your grandma always had those dolls that seemed to follow you with their eyes wherever you go. I also remember that she always smelled like Barbeque sauce and denture cream. Two of my least favorite things, unless they're on pork ribs, then it's excellent."
"The denture cream or the barbeque sauce?"
"Both." Shawn said, walking away. Gus followed after him, trying to keep up with Shawn's fast pace.
Shawn and Gus approached the front door. The door was a bright yellow and a pastel colored wreath of artificial flowers hung in the middle of the door. Shawn rapped his knuckles on the door and then rubbed his mouth with his left hand.
"This place is too happy. It reminds me of a movie…" Shawn snapped his fingers, squinting his eyes. "What am I trying to think of-"
"The sound of music?" Gus inquired, cocking his eyebrow. Shawn shook his head, scowling at Gus.
"Where in the world did you get The Sound of Music? Everyone knows that's more of a happy-go-lucky romance movie, not a happy-go-lucky "so happy it's creepy" movie." Shawn said, emphasizing "so happy it's creepy".
"Whatever Shawn."
The door opened and a woman appeared with strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and a red sundress. "Hi, may I help you?" She said, her voice dripping with sweetness.
"Yes, actually, you can. I am psychic detective Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner in crime Enrique Happy-go-lucky. Nice to meet you." Shawn said back, giving her a sweet glance.
The woman stepped aside to let the two in. "Come on in, I'll get some coffee." She said after they had stepped inside. The woman disappeared into a kitchen while Shawn and Gus sat down in a flowery living room. Owls lined the walls, their big beady eyes seemingly following their every move.
"Seriously, this place is creepin' me out Shawn!" Gus muttered under his breath, leaning in so only Shawn could hear him.
"Relax Gus," Shawn said, sinking back into a pink flowered recliner. "The lady is making us coffee Gus, why would someone make us coffee if their intentions weren't good?"
"It's not the lady Shawn, it's the house…and the owls. It seems like I'm being watched." Gus said, paranoid. The woman came into the room holding a tray with three mugs of steaming coffee and a plate of cookies.
"I hope you don't mind, I made so many cookies right before Juna died," she set the tray down on a wooden coffee table and sat down next to Gus. "Chocolate chip, her favorite, and I haven't had anyone to share them with, and I didn't want them to go to waste."
"We'll eat them." Shawn said, reaching forwards and taking a cookie. Gus took the cookie out of his hand and set it back onto the plate.
"Actually, we just had doughnuts, we're good." Gus said, smiling kindly. Shawn clicked his tongue sadly and resorted to the mug of coffee next to the plate seeing that it was no use arguing with Gus over the cookie issue. Gus took a mug as well, and so did the woman.
"So, your name is?" Gus inquired, taking a sip of his coffee and then wincing as the hot liquid rushed over his tongue.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot, where are my manners?" she exclaimed, setting the coffee mug back on to the tray. Shawn noticed a silver chain hanging about her wrist with the initials GF on it. "I'm Jessica Warden, Juna's cousin." Shawn kept the bracelet in the back of his mind, just in case.
"Nice to meet you Miss Jessica." Shawn said, taking a giant gulp of coffee. He instantly spit it out. "Oh, wow, this is really hot, do you have some ice, or possible a polar ice cap available?" he asked, waving a hand in front of his mouth.
"Oh, my terrible apologies, I'll get you some ice." She retreated back to the kitchen. After she was out of hearing range, Shawn leaned in towards Gus.
"Dude, is it just me, or is this lady too nice?" he muttered, glancing at the kitchen door.
"I don't know Shawn, this lady made us coffee and cookies, I feel safe enough." He said, mocking Shawn's previous tone. Jessica came bustling back into the room with a cup of ice.
"Yeah, you're probably right." He said, leaning back into the chair.
"Here you go," she said, setting the cup in front of Shawn. "I'm so sorry about your injured tongue."
"My tongue is fine ma'am, my pride is just a bit damaged. I couldn't suck it up and be a man."
"No, it's fine, I burn my tongue all the time." She said, giggling lightly. She sat back and folded her legs, putting her hands on her knees.
"Anyway," Gus said sternly, clearing his throat. "Miss Jessica, we didn't just come here to drink coffee, we came here to ask you a few questions. Now, we understand that you're probably upset about your cousin's death—"
"Oh, no. I saw it coming. She was acting like a crazy person; she never left the house, she started talking to herself…I don't know, maybe…four days before she died. She even threatened to kill me, it was extremely traumatic for both of us. Finally, one night, I heard something strange coming from the bathroom and I went to investigate. I found Juna lying on the floor with a bottle of my prescription medication in her hands."
"What was that medication exactly?" Gus asked, folding his hands in front of himself.
"It was painkillers. Two months ago I had surgery on my right ankle and my doctor told me that after a week of taking them I could ease my way off of the meds. I kept them around just in case the pain ever came back, but really, all it did was sit in my cabinet collecting dust." She said, sipping her coffee daintily.
"Did you notice anyone around her that seemed suspicious?"
"What? Do you think she was murdered?" Jessica gasped, holding her heart.
"Yes, actually, we do. But you have to keep this a secret. We're on an "under-cover" case right now, and the police station can't know." Shawn said, sticking an ice cube between his teeth.
"Okay. Do you need to investigate? She's still up there. They still haven't taken her away, it's actually starting to creep me out. Some woman with an annoying personality came and told the forensic people to keep the body where it was. I haven't been able to go in there since before Juna died." Jessica said, cocking an eyebrow at the ceiling. Gus made a high throaty noise and his face twisted in disgust.
"Yes, that would be nice. And that woman with the annoying personality, did she have blonde hair?"
"Yes."
"Then that would be Juliet O'Hara. She's a fellow co-worker of mine."
"Oh, really? I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine," Shawn said, holding out his hands. "May we investigate?"
OOO Psych OOO
"So this is Juna." Shawn said, standing over the dead body. "She was definitely going crazy."
"Shawn!" Gus cried.
"What? Who else other than a crazy woman would wear socks on her hands and gloves on her feet?"
"Those aren't socks Shawn. They're mittens, and the things on her feet, are toe socks."
"It still doesn't make sense. It's the middle of Summer." Shawn turned around to look at Jessica.
"She did complain about having cold hands and feet. I didn't think there was any reason to it." Jessica announced, frowning down at her cousin. "She also said that she was suffering from frequent headaches, stomach aches, and she was always really moody. That one time when she threatened to kill me, she was in one of her moods. I had walked into her room without knocking and she…-" Jessica trailed off. "Mr. Enrique, is there something wrong with your eyebrows?"
Shawn swiveled around to look at Gus. He waved Gus over and out of the bathroom. "One moment ma'am. Enrique and I must speak with each other. Do you have a room or possibly a closet, so that we could talk in private?"
Jessica nodded. "Right over here. This is the guest room. You can talk in here, he won't mind."
"I'm sorry, did you just say he?" Gus asked, stopping at the threshold of the guest room doorway.
"No." Jessica said sweetly. She turned and left before Shawn or Gus could say anything.
"That was weird." Gus muttered, following after Shawn into the room. "She totally said he, and then blew it off."
"Yeah, I guess that was a bit fishy…Speaking of fish, you really don't think that I'm not going to grow gills? Or are you just saying that because you're jealous."
"Focus Shawn. All of those strange things that Juna was complaining about were side effects of the mystery medication."
"The mystery medication? That's what you're calling it? You can do better than that man." Shawn whined, clicking his tongue.
Ignoring Shawn, Gus continued. "The stomach aches, the headaches, cold hands and feet. Those are the number one side effects of the drugs."
"That's so-…" Shawn trailed off. His attention was caught by a small incision that was carelessly patched up right to the left of an old oak desk. "Whoa, whoa, whoa…what's that?" Shawn pointed at the little slit.
"What's what?" Gus inquired, following Shawn's pointed finger, swaying slightly to get a better look. "The desk?"
"No," Shawn shuffled over to the crack in the floor. "This. It looks like someone opened this up, and then tried to cover it up. Let's find out what it is." Shawn said, reaching for the corner that had lifted from the wall.
"No Shawn! We have to get permission first." Gus cried, taking Shawn by the shoulder. Shawn clicked his tongue and gave gust a disappointed look.
"Fine." Shawn retreated. "So, there are sure signs of the medication in her system?"
"Yes. I'm sure of it."
"Okay, let's go."
Okay… So, it's been a while since I've updated anything, and this is my first Psych fanfiction. Please review! If you find any Typos, PLEASE tell be so that I can fix them! Thanks!
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