Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. So what better way to celebrate it then to pair it with my favorite tv show? I hope to have the whole story up by Halloween or soon after. So keep your fingers crossed life doesn't interfere with the plan.

This story takes place after season 7 if Trout never showed up.

Shawn walked up to the bar, eyeing the couple sitting there. They were engrossed in each other, not even noticing when he sat down next to them. He ordered a beer, watching them out of the corner of his eye. The man was dressed in a gray suit with a blue tie. The suit looked tailor made for his broad frame and made of high quality material. Definitely pricey.

The women was wearing a silky black dress, her brown hair loose around her shoulders. She appeared several years younger than her date. Everything about her outfit screamed middle class income. Except for the jewelry. They were of too high a quality for them to be anything but a gift from the man next to her.

They were leaning towards each other, talking quietly. The woman let out a small laugh, touching the man's arm. The two seemed very comfortable around each other. When the man turned, he was able to see his face reflected in the mirror behind the bar.

Yup, that's the guy.

He took a swig of his drink, planning his next move. Discarding several plans, he finally settled on one that would hopefully accomplish his goal without him getting punched in the face. Bracing himself just in case, he tapped the guy on the shoulder. "Hey buddy," he said, adopting a drunken slur, "don't I know you from some where?"

The man turned. He took in Shawn's jeans, flannel shirt and t-shirt combo along with his "drunken" demeanor. "I don't think so," he said scornfully.

Shawn grabbed the man's shoulder before he could turn away. "No, no, I swear I've seen you before. Let me get a good look at you." He placed both hands on either side of the man's face and studied it from about three inches away.

The man threw Shawn's hands off. "Get off me!" he yelled, glaring at Shawn. His hands had curled into fists and Shawn braced himself for a punch.

"Jeff, calm down," his date said, putting a calming hand on his shoulder.

Jeff glanced at her and took a deep breath. He was still glaring when he turned back to Shawn but at least he didn't look ready to hit him anymore. "If you even think of touching me again I will sue your ass for the little it is worth," he said threateningly. He turned his back on Shawn and grabbed his date's hand. "Come on, honey, let's go."

Shawn let them take a few steps before he stood up from his stool. "I remember now," he said, calling after him. "It was that charity event on Tuesday. But weren't you with another woman then?"

Jeff stopped, shoulders tense.

"What's he talking about," the woman asked, turning to Jeff. "You said you had a meeting Tuesday night."

"Oh, he had a meeting all right," Shawn said, sauntering over to the couple. "But not a work meeting. This was personal. Very personal." He stuck his hands into his pockets and grinned at the man. "How is your wife, by the way?"

"Your married?!" the woman yelled.

"Amy, he's crazy. Don't listen to him," Jeff said. He glared over at Shawn.

"Indent on his finger from wearing a wedding ring, he pays for most of his meals in cash, you always go back to your place, never his." As he spoke, Jeff's face turned red. He took a menacing step towards Shawn, who quickly jumped back. "You can only call his cell; never his work or home numbers. And I bet he never takes you anywhere he might run into someone he knows, like a fancy restaurant or a play." He shook his head. "Need I go on?"

"You'll pay for this," Jeff snarled.

"Maybe you should pay less attention to me, and more attention to your girlfriend," Shawn said, nodding his head at her.

Jeff turned and met the vicious glare of one seriously pissed off woman. Shawn was surprised Jeff wasn't vaporized on the spot. "You bastard!" she yelled, slapping him hard across the face. The blow forced Jeff to take a step back and earned an appreciative whistle from Shawn. The girl had some serious power. "We're over! And I'm keeping the jewelry!" She turned and forced her way through the growing crowd that had gathered to watch the scene.

Jeff looked at Shawn, face livid. "I don't know what game your playing, but it ends now," he said menacingly. "You don't just come in here and humiliate me. And if any word of this gets back to my wife I'll –"

"You'll what, Jeff?" said a voice behind Shawn.

Jeff looked over Shawn's shoulder and his face paled. "Eileen?"

A woman stepped up next to Shawn. She was wearing a modest brown dress with her hair pulled back into a severe bun. She eyed Jeff coldly. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Honey, I can explain," Jeff said quickly. "She's just a business partner. We had a few drinks while discussing a case and I guess she got the wrong idea. It's nothing."

"That's not what Mr. Spencer said." Eileen nodded towards Shawn. "He says you two have been seeing each other for five months now. Is that why you have to work late so often?"

"You hired a private investigator?" Jeff asked incredulously.

"Nope," Shawn said. He put on hand to his temple. "Psychic. And I'm sensing you might want to watch what you say next in front of all these witnesses."

Jeff looked around as if he just noticed the crowd of people surrounding them. He made an effort to keep his voice low as he turned back to his wife. "Let's go some place we can talk about his privately."

Eileen stepped up to Jeff. She took off her wedding ring and threw it on the floor at his feet. "I want a divorce."

"Eileen, please –"

Shawn winced as once again Jeff was slapped hard across the face. He wouldn't be surprised if Jeff had a big bruise on that cheek tomorrow.

"You'll be hearing from my attorney."

She turned away, leaving Jeff standing there looking stunned. One hand slowly reached up to touch the cheek she had slapped.

Passing by Shawn, Eileen handed him an envelope on her way out the door. He shoved it in his pocket, keeping a watchful eye on the ex-husband.

Jeff bent down and with shaking hands picked up the wedding ring. He stared at it for a moment before putting it into his pocket.

His gaze when he looked at Shawn was borderline manic. "You're a dead man," he said growled.

Shawn checked his wrist for a pulse. "Nope, still seem to be alive."

Jeff snapped. He lunged at Shawn, closing his hands around the psychic's throat. Luckily, the bartender, aware of the possibility of a fight, already had a couple of guys nearby in the crowd. They moved in and quickly pulled Jeff off of Shawn.

Jeff struggled against their grip as they dragged him out of the bar. "I'm going to kill you. You hear me? You're a dead man, psychic." He kept screaming obscenities all the way out the door.

Shawn walked over to the bar and sat down as the crowd slowly dispersed. The bartender came to stand in front of him. "Thanks for the help," Shawn said, rubbing his throat.

"No problem," the bartender replied. "Want me to call the police?"

"Nah," Shawn said. "He'll calm down. A bigshot lawyer like him should realize how stupid it would be to come after me now." He put his hand to his head in his classic 'psychic' pose. "I'm sensing he won't be a problem."

"So you're really psychic?" the bartender asked skeptically.

"Yup," Shawn said. "And I promise I won't tell your boss you're texting during work hours." He had heard the tell-tale vibration of a cell phone when he sat down. He had also noticed the man had one hand under the bar and would glance down every few seconds, probably to check what he was typing. "Girlfriend?"

"You're good," the bartender said. He held up his phone. "Just a friend. I'm telling him what happened. It's not something you see everyday, even in a bar."

"I hope not," Shawn said. "That would mean there's another exceedingly handsome psychic out there solving crime." He held out his hand. "I'm Shawn, by the way."

The bartender shook it. "Henry."

Shawn hid a wince. It wasn't the guy's fault he had the same name as his dad after all. "So Henry, how about another beer before I go?"

"You got it."

As Henry went to get the beer, Shawn's phone range. Glancing at the ID, he grinned before answering. "Hey Jules."

"Hi Shawn," Juliet replied. "I hope this isn't a bad time."

"It's never a bad time when I'm talking to you," Shawn said. He swore he could feel Juliet blushing over the phone.

She cleared her throat before continuing. "We got a lead on a case that Carlton wants to check out. Hopefully, it shouldn't take too long."

Shawn pouted. "I thought we were going to have dinner tonight. Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

Juliet sighed. "You know how Carlton gets. And we've been stuck on this case for two weeks. We could use any lead we can get."

"The case would have been solved already if I had been allowed on it," Shawn muttered sullenly.

"If this lead doesn't pan out, the chief just might do that," Juliet said. He could hear Lassiter yelling at her in the background to hurry up. "I've got to go. I'll see you when I get home. Big fat kisses."

"Big fat kisses," Shawn said. He hung up the phone as Henry returned.

"That your girlfriend?" he asked, setting the beer down in front of Shawn.

"Yeah." Shawn reached into his pocket for his wallet, pulling the envelope out with it. "She's got to work late again." He pulled some money out to pay for the drink.

"Keep it," Henry said. "Your little act is going to get me some extra business tonight."

"Thanks man," Shawn said. He put the money back into his wallet. Taking a pull of his drink, he checked the envelope. He grinned when he saw the ten crisp hundred dollar bills. Not bad for a night's work.

"If that's how psychics are paid, I'm in the wrong field," Henry said, watching Shawn put the money in his wallet.

"It has his perks," Shawn said. He finished off the beer quickly and stood up. "Well, it was nice meeting you Henry, but I really should be going." He leaned conspiratorially over the bar. "My name's spelled with an 'Sh', by the way." He could see the reflection of Henry's text in the mirror behind the bar, which included a description of him.

Henry flushed. "Sorry." He corrected the name before hitting send. Shoving the phone into his pocket, he looked at Shawn. "You need me to call you a cab or something?"

"Nah, I got my bike," Shawn replied.

"Well, be careful," Henry said. "There's been some muggings in the area recently." He smirked at Shawn. "Though I suppose as a psychic you would see it coming."

It was creepy how much Henry sounded like his father in that moment. "I'll keep it in mind. Later man."

He quickly made his way through the bar, brushing off the attentions of several woman who had seen the drama between him and Jeff. A few years ago he would have loved the attention. Now he was glad when he finally got outside into the relatively fresh air. He didn't need those women anymore.

He already had his girl.

Shawn walked down the street to where he had left his bike. He hoped Juliet wouldn't have to work too late. Recently it seemed the only time he got to spend with her was when they were working a case together. Which was great, but he missed spending time with just her and not part of a group of people. He had hoped tonight it could just be the two of them. Alone.

A sound from a nearby alley dragged him from his thoughts. He stopped, listening carefully. The sound repeated; a soft scrap, followed by a moan.

"Hello?" Shawn called cautiously. He tried to peer down the alley, but the streetlights cast it into shadow. "Is anyone there?"

He heard an answering moan, louder this time. It sounded like someone needed help. He entered the alley, moving carefully as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. "Are you ok? Do you need help?"

He froze as he felt a presence at his back, along with something sharp poking him just below the ribs. He cursed silently as he realized he had just been tricked.

"Give me your wallet," a man's voice said.

Shawn hesitated. "Look dude, I'd love to. But I'm two away from a free smoothie at Liquid Nirvana and I'd hate to have to start over from scratch." He didn't want to lose the money he had just made on the case. He was trying to prove to Juliet he was responsible, which meant helping to pay some of the bills. Which he couldn't do without that money.

He tried to place where the man was standing behind him. If he could get the knife away from him. . . "If you're short on cash, I hear real estate is a good field to get into."

Suddenly, the man's arm was around Shawn's neck, the knife at his throat. "This isn't a joke," he hissed into Shawn's ear. "The wallet. Now."

"Ok man, just calm down," Shawn said nervously. The man wasn't holding him very tightly, but it was still a very sharp looking knife. But if he was careful, and time it right, he could still probably get away. "It's in my left pocket."

The man slid a hand towards Shawn's pocket, momentarily distracted. Now was his chance. He brought an arm up under the one around his throat and pushed as hard as he could. At the same time, he ducked to the left to slip out of his grasp.

The man realized what he was trying to do and swung the knife. Shawn gasped as it sliced deeply into his arm. His left arm swung backwards, elbowing the man hard in the gut. His breath left in a whoosh, along with his strength. Shawn slipped out of his grasp and stumbled further down the alley, trying to put some distance between them.

He hid behind a dumpster, the only hiding spot in the alley. He could still hear his assailant gasping for air, so he took a second to examine his arm. It throbbed painfully and he could feel the sticky warmth of blood flowing down to his fingertips. He needed to try and stop the bleeding. With no convenient first aid kit lying around, or even a clean piece of fabric, he settled for gripping his arm tightly with his hand. He winced at the added pain it caused and hoped he was at least slowing down the bleeding.

Injury taken care of, he peeked around the dumpster. His attacker seemed to be recovering. Shawn probably had seconds before he was found. He squinted, trying to get a good look at him.

"Seriously?" Shawn muttered in disbelief. "Halloween isn't for another two weeks." The man was wearing black pants with a white shirt and red vest. A long flowing cape and fangs completed the ensemble. The only divergence from a typical vampire costume was a black mask covering the upper half of his face.

The man seemed to have heard Shawn. His eyes looked on to the dumpster. Shawn stepped back quickly, but the man closed the distance between them faster than he thought possible. Shawn was shoved hard into the wall of the alley, his head colliding with the hard bricks. Pain flared behind his eyes as the knife was once again placed against his throat. "Don't move," the man snarled.

Shawn stayed still this time, too dazed to put up a fight. He felt the man reach into his pocket and remove his wallet. "Don't move," he repeated again. Shawn nodded slowly. The man quickly backed away, eyes on Shawn, then disappeared around the dumpster.

Head pounding, Shawn waited a few seconds before stumbling out into the middle of the alley. There was no sign of the man. He tried to head back to the street, but the ground started to sway beneath him. Stumbling to the wall of one of the buildings, he slid down it until he was sitting on the ground. He closed his eyes with a groan, wishing the world would stop spinning.

Female voices sounded at the end of the alley. "I thought I heard something." The voices got louder as they neared Shawn's location. A startled gasp forced Shawn to open his eyes.

His was having trouble focusing, but he could make out three women standing in front of him. One of them crouched down next to him, looking at him with concern. "Are you ok?"

"Just peachy," he mumbled.

Her eyes widened as she looked at Shawn's arm. "Oh my god, your bleeding! Cindy, give me your coat!" Her friend tossed her the coat, which she immediately applied to the gash on Shawn's arm. He winced at the pain it caused.

"Someone call for an ambulance," she said. Her other friend pulled out a phone as Cindy looked on in concern.

"I'm fine," Shawn protested. He tried to get up, then immediately fell back against the wall as the world started to spin again. He groaned, closing his eyes.

"Don't worry, the police will be here soon," the first voice said.

"Great," Shawn muttered. He swallowed hard, fighting back the nausea he was feeling. There was no way he was going to throw up in front of three women. He had some dignity left, after all.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he heard sirens in the distance. The police were almost here. He guessed he would have to talk to them, tell them what happened.

A thought occurred to him and he opened his eyes again. "You didn't see anyone suspicious before you came down here, did you? Long flowing cape? Pointed teeth?"

"No," the woman said carefully. She exchanged a look with her friend before turning back to Shawn. "I think you hit your head. Maybe you didn't see what you thought you saw," she said gently.

They both turned to look as voices sounded at the end of the alley. The police had arrived. "The police are here. I'm sure they'll be able to help you." She patted his leg encouragingly.

Shawn sighed, closing his eyes again. She probably thought he was crazy or seeing things. The police would probably think the same thing. Hell, it sounded strange even to him.

Who mugs someone dressed as a vampire?

Carlton pulled the car up to the crime scene. Most of the activity seemed to be centered around an alley halfway down the street. Juliet could see a crowd of people standing outside a nearby bar, looking on curiously.

"Another mugging," Juliet murmured as she got out of the car. "Do you think this is the same guy?"

"I hope so," Carlton said. "Maybe this time the victim got a good look at the perp's face." He slammed the door closed harder than necessarily. "We could use a break on at least one case tonight."

Juliet didn't say anything. They had been pursuing a lead on a string of home robberies when the call had come in about the mugging. The chief had ordered them to check it out, leaving Carlton in a foul mood. Privately, Juliet didn't think the lead would have panned out anyway. But she wasn't going to tell him that.

They walked around the police barricade and entered the crime scene. Carlton walked over to the officer in charge. "What have we got?"

"It looks like the, uh, victim, was attacked in this alley," the man said, looking unusually nervous. "CSU is looking it over."

"Witnesses?" Carlton prompted.

"A group of women leaving the club found the, victim, and called 911," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "They're being questioned."

"Where's the victim now?" Carlton asked.

"Look, detective, about that," the man said, swallowing nervously. "There's something you should know."

"Just spit it out already," Carlton snapped.

Before he could answer, Juliet heard a loud voice off to their right. She knew that voice.

Leaving Carlton behind with the stammering officer, she hurried out of the crime scene and over to the ambulance parked a little further down the street. Two medics were checking over someone sitting on the back bumper. "Shawn?"

Her boyfriend looked up at her. "Hey Jules," he said with a smile. "Let me guess, you heard what happened and had to come rushing down here to make sure I was ok." He gave her a sappy grin. "How sweet." He hissed as one of the medics did something to his arm. "You know, that really hurts," he whined.

"Knife wounds tend to do that," she replied dryly.

"Knife wound?" Juliet asked. Walking around the medics, she got a good look at Shawn's right arm. A deep gash ran diagonally from his shoulder down nearly to his elbow. Blood was still flowing freely from the wound.

Shawn saw her grimace as she looked at the wound. "I've been afraid to look. Give it to me straight Jules." He took a deep breath before looking at her seriously. "Are they going to have to amputate?" He scrunched his face up and looked away, bracing himself.

Juliet rolled her eyes at his theatrics. "No, but you are going to need quite a few stitches."

"Do you think it will leave a scar?" Shawn asked, face brightening. "Chicks dig scars." He waggled his eyebrows at Juliet suggestively.

"Probably not," the paramedic said. Her badge read Susan. "It was a clean cut."

Juliet hid a grin at the disappointed look on Shawn's face. "Any other injuries?"

"He hit his head pretty hard. I'm worried about a concussion." She turned to look at Juliet. "It's been hard to tell if there's been any mental changes. Is he acting normal to you?"

"Nothing about Spencer is normal," Carlton said, joining the group. "Though unfortunately that is how he acts most of the time."

"Lassie-face!" Shawn cried. Carlton winced at the nickname. "Did you come to hear my harrowing and heroic tale?"

"Stop moving," Susan said as Shawn flailed his arms. She managed to get him to hold his arm still long enough to finish bandaging the wound. Juliet saw him wince slightly at the rough treatment. He looked at her piteously. She ignored him.

Susan gathered up her supplies. "Good luck with him," she said to the two of them. She walked around the side of the ambulance, giving them some privacy.

"I came to talk to a mugging victim," Carlton said, in answer to Shawn's question. "I'm just unlucky enough that it's you."

"Lassie, you have to be nice to me," Shawn whined. He got up off the bumper and showed Carlton his arm. "I'm hurt." He pouted up at the detective. "Kiss it and make it better?"

"I'm not kissing your damn arm," Carlton snapped.

"Shawn, focus," Juliet said. She was worried about her boyfriend. His face seemed a little pale and he was squinting in the bright lights. "Come on, let's talk over here." She took his uninjured arm and lead him to a quiet, dark area of the street. "I thought you were working on a private case tonight."

"I was," Shawn said. "Cheating husband. The bar is where he likes to meet up with his girlfriend. She didn't know he was married." He grinned at her. "It was epic Jules. You should have seen it. I made a cool grand off that case." His face fell. "Though I guess the mugger has that now. And I should probably tell Gus to cancel his credit cards."

"What happened next?" Carlton asked. He pulled out a notebook, ready to jot down any pertinent information.

"I had a drink, talked to the bartender a bit. Juliet called." He grinned over at her. "Then I decided to head home." He pointed to the street corner behind them. "My bike is parked down there, so I was walking toward it when I heard a noise."

"What noise?" Juliet asked.

"It sounded like someone moaning, coming from the alley." Shawn looked away, staring intently at the ground. "I thought someone might be hurt, so I went to check it out." He sounded embarrassed.

"Let me guess, it was a trick to get someone stupid enough alone," Carlton said scornfully.

Shawn nodded. "Yup, pretty much," he said bitterly.

"You couldn't have known that," Juliet said gently. "Someone could have really been hurt. It was the right thing to do."

Shawn looked up at her with a small smile. "Thanks Jules."

"So he tricked you into the alley," Carlton said, ignoring the glare Juliet gave him. "What next?"

"He held a knife to me and asked for my wallet," Shawn said.

"Where was he holding the knife?" Carlton asked.

"In his hand," Shawn said. At Carlton's glare, he sighed. "First to my back. When I refused to hand over the wallet, he moved it up to my neck." He tilted his head to the side and Juliet saw a small cut on he side of his neck.

"Did you give him the wallet then?" Carlton asked.

"No." He looked embarrassed again. "I tried to distract him and slip out of his grasp. Got a cut on my arm for my trouble. Then he slammed me into the wall and took my wallet while I was stunned."

"Shawn, what were you thinking?" Juliet burst out, startling him. He looked up at her, surprised at her anger. "You could have gotten killed. Why didn't you just give him the wallet?" In her head she could see what could have happened if her boyfriend hadn't been so lucky. She clenched her hands into fists to hide the trembling.

"I thought I could handle him," Shawn said softly. She could see a hint of fear in his gaze as he looked at her. Realizing he knew how much worse it could have been, she felt her anger fading. "I'm sorry," he said.

"Just don't do that again," Juliet said, just as softly. He nodded, giving her a small grin. She returned it, feeling the last of her anger dissipating.

Carlton coughed loudly, ruining the moment. "Did you see what he looked like?" he asked.

"Yeah, but you're not going to like it," Shawn said, smirking.

Carlton crossed his arms. "Try me."

"I would describe him as a creature of the night," Shawn said. His voice was low and mysterious. It rose higher with every sentence, building up to the reveal. "One who feeds on the blood of the unwary. Perhaps turns into a bat to travel to his next hunting grounds. In short, he was – "

"A vampire." Carlton said.

Shawn deflated. "Yeah," he said, looking annoyed his big moment was ruined. "How'd you know?"

"We've had twelve muggings in the last two weeks by someone dressed as a vampire," Carlton said. "You make number thirteen."

"Seriously?" Shawn asked. He looked at Juliet, who nodded. "Why am I just hearing about his now?"

"It hasn't been a high priority case," Juliet said. "You're the first victim to get hurt."

"Though that was more from his own stupidity," Carlton muttered. He winced when Juliet elbowed him in the ribs.

"Shouldn't a psychic be the first person you call when there are vampire attacks?" Shawn argued.

"Vampires aren't real," Carlton said. "It's just some nutjob in a costume. And how is a psychic supposed to help find a vampire anyway?"

"I could track him down through the nether regions," Shawn said matter of factly.

Carlton winced. "I sure hope not."

"I meant the underworld," Shawn said, raising an eyebrow. "Mind in the gutter much?" He grinned at Juliet as the detective turned red and glared at him.

Juliet had to hide a grin of her own. "I'm sure the case will be given a higher priority now. You're the seventh victim this week alone."

Shawn whistled. "That's quite the work ethic. Too bad he isn't putting that much effort into a real job."

"That's why we need to figure out who this guy is," Carlton said, face back to its normal coloring. "Have you angered anyone lately?" He gave Shawn a sardonic look. "More than usual, I mean?"

"Well, the cheating husband did try to strangle me," Shawn said.

"Are you ok?" Juliet asked anxiously. She stepped closer to Shawn, tilting his head to check his neck.

Shawn grabbed her hands, holding them gently between his own. "I'm fine," he said. "He barely had time to squeeze before security dragged him away." He rubbed her hands gently and she could feel herself calming under his touch.

Juliet sighed. "How do you keep getting into these messes?"

He grinned wryly at her. "It's a gift."

"What was his name?" Carlton asked. He was glaring at Shawn, eyes flickering to where he was holding Juliet's hands. She reluctantly let him go and took a step back.

"Jeff Donahue," Shawn said. "He's a lawyer at Price, Postel, and Parma downtown."

Carlton made a note of the information. "He's probably not the guy but I'd still like to talk to him. Did he threaten you in any other way?"

"You mean besides trying to strangle me and shouting he was going to kill me?" Shawn appeared to think about it for a moment. "He did say he would sue my ass for the little it was worth if I touched him again."

Carlton raised an eyebrow. "Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not," Shawn said cheekily. Juliet noticed a sudden glint in her boyfriend's eye before he stepped closer to Carlton.

"Hey Lassie, how much would you say my ass is worth?" Shawn asked. He turned around and thrust out said ass to give Carlton a good view.

"No," Carlton said, not looking up from his notebook.

"Just ballpark it," Shawn said. "Come on, it could be important to the case. It's got to be worth more than your bony butt."

"I'm not bony," Carlton said indignantly.

"Sure you are, Lassie. You're like a stick figure in a suit," Shawn said.

"It's called keeping in shape," Carlton said. "You should try it sometime."

Shawn hissed. "Low blow. Juliet happens to find my form very sexy. Don't you honey?" He turned to give Juliet a better view of his butt. "Definitely better than Carlton's bony behind, right?"

"Stop talking about my ass!" Carlton yelled. Several people looked over at the little group. Carlton flushed at the attention as Shawn grinned.

"If you had just answered my question in the first place. . ."

"Can it, Spencer," Carlton growled. "One more word and I will shoot you."

"Kumquat."

"That's enough!" Juliet yelled as Carlton reached for his gun. "Shawn, we're at a crime scene. Your crime scene. Try to at least act like an adult." Shawn at least had the decency to look apologetic.

Carlton smirked at Shawn, clearly glad to see him getting into trouble.

"And you," Juliet said, rounding on her partner. The smirk changed into a look of surprise as he met Juliet's angry gaze. "You are not shooting my boyfriend. Stop letting his comments get to you. You look fine."

"Jules – "

"O'Hara – "

"No more!" she said sharply. She glared at the both of them. Neither man could hold her gaze and quickly looked away. "Shawn, get in the ambulance."

"Jules, I'm fine."

"Shawn, you need stitches and you have a concussion."

"My arm's fine. It's barely even bleeding now." Shawn held up his arm for Juliet to see. "Besides, if I had a concussion, could I do this?" Before she could stop him, he started spinning in a circle.

Or at least tried to. Halfway through the first rotation, he lost his balance and started to fall. Carlton barely managed to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Sure your fine," Carlton said, getting Shawn back on his feet. He had to continue holding him up as the man seemed unable to keep his balance.

Shawn's face was pale and he seemed to be having trouble getting his eyes to focus on her. "Jules, maybe I should go to the hospital," Shawn said quietly.

Juliet moved over to Shawn's other side and the two of them helped her boyfriend over to the ambulance. Carlton stepped back as the paramedics took over but Juliet was reluctant to let Shawn go. She helped get him inside the ambulance and over to the stretcher. Only then did she step back to let the paramedics do their work.

They strapped Shawn in and placed an oxygen mask over his face. One person started checking vitals while Susan checked the wound on Shawn's arm. It had started bleeding again so she rebandaged it. When she was done she looked up at Juliet. "You riding with us?"

Juliet shook her head. "I just need to talk to him before you leave." Susan nodded. Moving to put some supplies away, she left room for Juliet to get closer to Shawn. The other medic stepped away too, giving them a semblance of privacy.

Juliet sat on the seat next to Shawn. "I'll come pick you up as soon as we're done here. Wait for me. And don't even think about signing yourself out AMA."

Shawn pulled the mask away from his face so he could talk. "Wouldn't dream of it," he said softly, eyes closed. He looked absolutely miserable, so Juliet leaned down and gave him a kiss. He leaned into it as much as he could lying on his back, trying to draw it out as long as possible.

He smiled up at her as she pulled away. "Love you Jules."

"Love you too," she said with an answering smile. She readjusted the mask on his face, then ran her fingers softly through his hair. "I'll see you soon."

She climbed out of the ambulance, turning to get one last look at Shawn. He gave her a little wave before the doors closed. Lights flashing, she watched the ambulance turn the corner and head off to the hospital.

She felt someone come stand next to her. "He'll be fine," Carlton said.

"I know," Juliet said quietly. Turning, the two of them headed back to the crime scene.

She noticed Carlton looking at her strangely out of the corner of her eye. "What?"

"'You look fine'?" Carlton asked. He coughed nervously. "Did you mean overall or –"

Juliet could feel her face turning red. "We are not having this conversation. Ever."

"Ok. Fine with me," Carlton said quickly.

The two of them stood there for a moment awkwardly.

"I should check on forensics," Carlton said.

"I should check on the witnesses," Juliet said at the same time.

Avoiding eye contact, the two detectives headed to opposite sides of the crime scene.

The next chapter should be up soon.

Let me know what you think.