Author's Note: I always wondered how Shawn would react if psychics were real and I wanted to explore his time away from Santa Barbara a little more, hence CJ my OFC psychic creation. I hope it's clear that the stuff in italics is him remembering. I don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine, hopefully I caught the majority of them.

Spoilers: The whole series pretty much. I have Shawn and Juliet together so I'm saying it's around where they are now.

Characters: Shawn, Gus, Juliet, Henry, Lassiter, (pretty much anyone from the show I can toss in) and CJ (OFC)

Disclaimer: I don't own them, unfortunately for me.

Around 10 years ago

As Shawn raced down the highway on his motorcycle, ignoring the gnawing in the pit of his stomach, he was glad he'd lied to Gus about what he'd been doing for the last six months. Well, not lied exactly. He'd sent a postcard saying he 'couldn't discuss his current job.' It wasn't his fault Gus had naturally assumed his friend had been recruited to some secret government agency. It would make it easier to avoid discussing this if, when he ever went back to Santa Barbara.

It wasn't fair, what he was doing now. Cruel maybe, to one of the few people he would consider a friend. He knew everybody thought he made friends easily, and he did, sort of. Those were more like acquaintances though, and this had been different. CJ had trusted him and he had walked away. She should have known better, the dependable guy you can turn to when the going gets tough, that wasn't him, not by a long shot.

/

She was pushing herself as far back into the corner of the couch as humanly possible. Her eyes were closed, her head back, the teacup in her hands rattling as her hands shook. Shawn was shaking too, what he had just seen, that was a little too real, and so much worse than last time. He'd almost bolted then when he'd seen what happened to CJ. What helping the police with the missing little boy had done to her.

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He'd spent a lot of time amusing himself by uncovering fake psychics, fortune tellers etc. There were always tells, he knew they were lying and it was only a matter of time before he figured out how they got away with it. He thought this job would be a lark. Assistant to a psychic was something he'd never done and CJ was an easy boss to work for and let him crash on her couch. Shawn didn't think they'd become friends, but it'd happened anyway. Shawn worked with her everyday, receptionist and food fetcher mostly. Watching as she read palms and took consults, never seeing her tells, never knowing how exactly she knew the things she did. Some of it was observation, he figured out the same things she did, but there were details she couldn't possibly know.

He got so frustrated a few weeks in that he finally flat out asked her how she did it. Was there another assistant he didn't know about? Researching the clients after they made the appointment and reporting back. CJ just stared at him, mouth set in contemplation not anger.

Do you really want to know?

She had asked, and the tone of her voice making Shawn swallow deeply.

I'm psychic, Shawn.

There were no tells, nothing to indicate she was lying, but she couldn't be telling the truth.

You're best friend's name is Gus. You met before you remember and have been friend's ever since. You left your home after you turned 18 and haven't looked back. You've had over 20 jobs since then and never attended college. Your IQ is off the charts and your observation skills are because your father, a cop, trained you a little too well when you were a kid. You send Gus a postcard from every town you visit, the weirder the picture the better. Pineapples are your favorite fruit and you want more than anything to believe I'm lying right now but you also know deep down I'm not.

Shawn just sat there. Deep in thought, reviewing everything he'd seen in the 3 weeks he'd been working for CJ. The stuff she couldn't know but somehow did. He wished Gus was here right now, he'd always been more into the paranormal stuff.

How? I mean, what... what do you see? How do you know? How long have you known?

CJ breathed out a sigh of relief, it seemed the psychic really hadn't known how she would be perceived. Chuckling slightly she went on to explain that she'd always seen things, the slight pause and the way she glossed over any explanation of her family's reactions made Shawn note that family life hadn't been great in the early years at least. She went on to say that mostly she saw auras, colors around people that changed with their emotional state. It wasn't reading minds but she'd had enough practice it was almost the same. She also got some things from psychometry, Gus would love that term, get readings off of objects she touched.

Hmm, cool.

And that was the end of the discussion. Shawn believed her but it didn't change anything besides him trying to get CJ to give inside info on the girls he wanted to pick up in bars, but that was just good business sense in his opinion.

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Everything was good for a while. Shawn introduced CJ to obscure 80's pop culture references and CJ introduced him to the old Doctor Who episodes. They ate take out, and laughed at the strange assortment of clients that wandered into the office.

Then CJ had a vision, Shawn thought it was a seizure at first but she called him an idiot and told him to grab her migraine medication and some tea. He came back in the room to see her wrapped in a blanket talking quietly on the phone with what he guessed was the police department from listening to her side of the conversation. He heard her mention the name of a young boy who had been kidnapped yesterday according to the news report that had been on at the bank earlier. He sat quietly until she got off the phone, mostly because of the look on her face and partly because he recognized the need for a serious moment when he saw it.

You have visions.

It was more of an accusatory statement than a question, and she flinched, a guilty expression on her face, before nodding.

Not all the time, and normally only when something really bad has happened.

The pained look on her face made Shawn feel a bit guilty about this but he needed to know.

You saw where the boy was, didn't you? Are they going to find him, alive I mean?

She flinched again.

Maybe. I don't know. I gave them details on a location he has been. I don't know if he's still there and I'm honestly not sure he's still alive. The visions aren't explicit and rarely contain all the necessary information.

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It took three days to find the boy, alive but in critical need of medical attention. He hadn't been at the house CJ saw, but clues there had led the police to his kidnappers who gave up his location once they were threatened with murder charges.

CJ was not in a good place during those days. Trying as hard as she could to get anything else to help. He didn't think she slept at all and was a little shocked to see her popping prescription stimulants. When the boy was finally found she just collapsed. Shawn got her into bed and she slept for 17 hours straight. He sat there, feeling a little creepy watching her as she slept but he was trying to figure her out. This serious vision had brought out a side of her he hadn't seen buried beneath the normally happy attitude. People normally didn't surprise him and this was the second time she'd done it. He contemplated leaving, he knew that made him a crappy person but he didn't know if he could handle seeing his friend break down again.

He stayed though he wasn't exactly sure why. CJ recovered and was back to her snarky self within the next few days. She was hesitant around Shawn, treating him like a skittish animal and he wondered if she was more aware of his thoughts about leaving than he would like. She calmed down though after he forced her into a John Hughes marathon with copious amounts of popcorn and sugary treats.

/

Shawn shook his head to clear his thoughts. They'd made it another few months before another vision hit. He'd been grabbing take out from the taco place down the street. When he got back to the office she'd been in the middle of the vision. This one was worse, much worse. It looked like she was gasping for breath and Shawn hadn't been able to do anything but sit there and wait for it to be over. He could tell from her face that whatever she had seen was bad. After he got her meds and water she shakily started grabbing her purse and keys. He'd tried to get her to sit down but she'd been insistent on going to the station herself. She asked him to stop by the store and pick up some skittles then meet her there, it almost seemed like she was giving him an out and Shawn was a coward so he took it. As soon as she got into her car and drove off he crammed his stuff into his trusty duffel bag, packed his bike and left.

He knew a friend who could get him a bartender job for a week or two in Chicago and maybe by then he'd be able to look himself in the mirror, he hoped.