Chapter 1: New Case

"Mr. Spencer! My office. Now."

Shawn smirked at Lassiter's grimace as they followed the Chief into her office.

"Chief, let me be the first to say-"

"I don't want to hear anymore of it, Detective."

"Yes, Chief."

"Good. Now, Mr. Spencer, I called you in because-"

"Aw, Chief… Do you really need me that much? I didn't realize."

Chief Vick let out an exasperated sigh at the childish behavior of the department psychic.

"Mr. Spencer, we have a case that demands your-expertise." She smacked a copy of the case file down in front of Shawn, causing him to jump slightly.

"Three explosions. All in the last ten days. The only possible connection between them is this girl." The Chief flip open the folder to a picture of a teenage girl. "Jordan Alexander: sixteen, currently in foster care, and no living relatives that we know of."

"Currently? Whoa, whoa, whoa." Shawn held up a hand as two fingers went up to his head. "Why am I sensing that she was the only survivor of the explosions?"

Juliet glanced down at her file.

"That's right. She escaped without a scratch."

"We're not getting through to her, Mr. Spencer, and she's the only one that can tell us who could have done this."

"You want me to read her psychically."

"Yes, I do. But we thought if she wasn't here," Vick pointed her finger down at the floor, "That it might help somehow…"

"Where is she?"

"With McNab. We put her under police protection in case whoever's after her decides to strike again."

"And then you decided to switch to psychic protection?" Shawn grinned as he watched Lassiter's face turn a slight purple tint.

"Mr. Spencer, you may leave now."

Shawn left the Chief's office and headed over to Buzz's desk. "Buzz!" he called cheerfully in greeting.

"Hi, Shawn. How's it going?" Buzz looked up from his work, grinning.

"Oh, the usual."

Shawn noticed that Jordan was in a nearby chair, watching everything going on around her. Well, more than watching, she was glaring, hard.

"So you're the lucky girl that everyone keeps talking about around here," Shawn said, coming up to her.

She looked up at him.

"It's pretty obvious. I'm the only teenager here."

Shawn winced inwardly. Nicefirstimpression,Shawn.Verynice.

"True."

"So, are you going to stand there and watch me or go back to doing whatever it is you do around here?" Jordan shifted slightly so that her back was to him.

"That would be my job. And apparently my job is to take you on a picnic," Shawn quipped.

Jordan whirled, a shocked expression on her face. In that moment, Shawn knew the tough girl routine was a mask. And if he could just get through to her, he knew that they would get along just fine.

"I don't like picnics," she said simply.

"You don't?" Shawn's eyebrows rose. "Well, that's a relief. Neither do I."

"Well, now you can go away and leave me alone." Jordan turned back around.

"I can't do that. You're kinda my problem now."

"What? Are you the official babysitter around here or something?"

"No. I'm actually the head psychic."

"Well, Mr. HeadPsychic, you should know that I would like to be left alone. As in, 'by myself'?"

"It's Shawn. And I've told you, I can't do that."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Jordan snapped.

Shawn decided to try another approach. He pulled Lassie's desk chair over in front of Jordan and sat down.

"I know you're not really like this."

"Really?" Her tone sounded challenging.

"Really."

Jordan shrugged.

"So?"

"Never mind." Shawn stood, looking around for his favorite detective.

Juliet sat at her desk, sipping a steaming mug of coffee when Shawn hurried over.

"Um, Jules?"

"Shawn." When she looked up, she beamed.

"I need your help with something…"

"And since when does Shawn Spencer need my help?" Juliet teased.

"Jules, please. I need your help with-" he gestured helplessly in Jordan's direction.

Juliet O'Hara laughed.

"That's strange. I thought you had a way with girls."

"Not with her!" Shawn hissed. "Now, will you just helpme?"

Juliet looked over toward Jordan, noting the icy glare she shot anyone who got within range.

"You can't even get her out of her chair?" She giggled, burying her face in the files on her desk.

"Jules…"

She looked up.

"Fine. I'll-help." Juliet broke down into a giggle fit again.

"It's not funny! You know the Chief wants me to get her out of the station for a while, and-"

"Then why didn't you say so sooner?"

Shawn turned around to see Jordan standing behind him.

"Did you just use three 's' words in a row?"

Jordan raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you answering my question with a question that is totally irrelevant to my question?"

"And why are you answering my question that wasn't an answer to your question with a question about why I'm answering you with a question?"

"Because you're not answering my original question."

"Because I have a roundabout way of doing things."

"Okay, hold it." Juliet held up her hands. "You're giving me a headache with this nonsense."

Shawn looked appalled.

"'This nonsense', Jules? 'This nonsense' is how we do things."

Juliet raised an eyebrow, attempting to glare at him but ended up with a silly grin on her face.

"Shawn, don't you have something to do? Outside of the police department?"

Shawn looked confused for a moment before he noticed Jordan.

"What? Oh, right!"

The junior detective shook her head as she watched her boyfriend practically sprint out the doors.

What have I gotten into?

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Gus pushed open the door to the Psych office, expecting to be bombarded with Shawnisms. To his surprise, he wasn't. Instead, there were plenty of crazed yelling and video game sound effects greeting him as he stepped inside.

"Yaaaah! Take that!"

"Ow! Since when is hitting someone over the head with a pillow during this legal?"

"You're the one that said anything goes!"

"I meant in the game!"

"Well, you should have clarified!"

Gus recognized Shawn's voice at once, but the other, although distinctly female and young sounding, was one he had never heard before. He rounded the corner to find Shawn and a teenage girl attempting to pulverize each other in some kind of fantasy video game.

"Shawn."

Shawn looked up.

"Oh hey, buddy! Come to join the party?"

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"I guess…"

Gus got Shawn over to the side, glancing at the girl for a second before turning his attention back to his best friend.

"Shawn, what is she doing here?"

"It has to do with a case." Shawn held up a finger to keep Gus from butting in. "And before you say anything, it's for the department. Apparently, the Chief thinks it would be better if she was under psychic protection instead of police protection."

Gus' eyes narrowed.

"What exactly is the case about?"

Shawn shrugged.

"Some kind of serial exploder thing. Trust me, this is an open-close case."

"Serial exploder? As in bombs? Shawn, how many people has this guy killed?"

Shawn glanced at the girl.

"Not the one he was targeting, that's for sure."

Gus suddenly looked panicked.

"She's the target? There is no way I'm staying here to find out if you can keep her or yourself alive!"

"You know I can hear you." The girl stood with her arms crossed in the doorway.

"I know. But I doubt Gus knows. Speaking of which, Gus, this is Jordan. Jordan, meet Gus, my partner in the psychic detective business."

"At least you didn't introduce me as anything else…"

"Gus, don't be a down feather pillow. Why would I do a thing like that?" Shawn asked with a hurt expression.

"Because you do, Shawn. All the time."

"But not every time." Shawn pointed out with much chagrin.

"Nearly every time then. I really don't have time for this." Gus said as he sat down in his chair with sigh of relief.

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Maybe because I don't have anything better to do? Or maybe because I'm starting to go insane after being your best friend for over twenty years?"

"That hurts, Gus. That really hurts that you think of me like that." Shawn said, his voice echoing strangely as he scrabbled around in the refrigerator.

"Shawn, get your head out of the fridge and tell me about this case!"

"Hold on one second. I can't find the pineapple chunks…"

"Shawn!"

"Fine. Ow!" Shawn closed the refrigerator door, ruefully rubbing his head. "There's really not much to tell."

"There isn't? How 'bout you tell me why on earth you took a case that you're not capable of handling? Tell me that, Shawn!" Gus glared at him, his hands resting on the top of his desk.

"I didn't have much choice. The Chief practically dropped it in my lap!"

Gus stayed silent for a moment.

"What do you need me to do?" He sighed.

"I need you to drive the blueberry to the nearest taco place. I'm starving."

Gus looked up to see Shawn with a half-serious expression on his face. Jordan stood slightly behind him, watching the exchange carefully.

"You know that's right." Gus said, a grin slowly spreading over his face.

Well, how was it? Intriguing? Silly? Maybe a bit of both?

Check out the polls on my profile to help decide the details on Jordan. Or, if you have something more specific that's not included in the polls, drop me a review. I appreciate all the feedback.

Special thanks to…

splashes-of-silver; my beta for this story and fellow Psych-o.

Give her a round of applause, guys! She's amazing!