Out for a Pound

Summary: Anyone else notice the look in Shawn's eyes when Juliet called her father out for conning her? Well…here's my take what happens next. Post ep for "In for a Penny".

Disclaimer: If you think I own this, you need to re-evaluate your perspective on life. No profiting - besides my own enjoyment of reading reviews and writing fiction - is being made on this. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: Intended to be a one-shot, but I may continue this. Still on the fence about that one. I guess your reviews will help determine if I will decide to continue or leave it as it is.

Burton "Fearless" Guster sat at his desk in the Psych office, half heartedly trying to balance the Psych bank account. With his immature best friend, Gus was lucky they didn't overdraw. Shawn Spencer, (fake) Psychic Detective, probably still believed money just magically grew on trees.

With a sigh of frustration, Gus lifted his head to yell at his best friend that if he was not responsible enough to save his receipts, he was going to revoke his debit card privileges. And remove him as a signer on the account. Maybe even dissolve the "partnership" and remove Shawn's name from the business all together. He could do it. It's not like Shawn would ever notice.

He opened his mouth to begin his rant and paused as he took in his friend across the room. Shawn sat at his desk, but instead of playing video games, playing paper basketball or football, ranting about Lassie or his Dad (sometimes both simultaneously), or even just plain twitching like a five year old, Shawn was sitting completely still, staring blankly out the window.

With an annoyed sigh, Gus turned around to see what held his friend's attention, ready to smack him if it was some hot chick. Really, the dude had a girlfriend who was crazy enough to love him. He did not need to be checking out random chicks. Gus' survey showed no one of interest outside. He scanned again to see if he could spot the slushie guy, ice cream cart, or any number of distractions for his friend. None were in sight.

"Shawn?" Gus inquired, turning back around to face his friend. Shawn gave no indication he heard Gus. With a sigh, Gus snapped "Shawn!"

"What?" Shawn snapped back, looking annoyed.

"Are you…ok?" Gus asked, studying his friend now that the blank, far-away look was out of his eyes. Behind the annoyance, Gus could see a touch of…something in his friends eyes. It wasn't exactly guilt but it was something akin to that.

"I'm fine," Shawn stated with a shrug, leaning back in his chair and twirling around. Gus narrowed his eyes, knowing the antic for what it was. Avoidance.

"You're….unusually quiet."

"Maybe I decided to start meditating."

Gus snorted, not even trying to hide his disbelief.

"Or maybe we're in a weird remake of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'."

"Gus, don't be a worry-wart," Shawn stated, shooting Gus a grin as he resumed spinning. "You know no one likes a worry-wart." Shawn paused a moment. "What exactly is a worry-wart anyway? I mean…warts can't worry, and"

"Shawn!" Gus snapped, cutting his friend off in mid thought, knowing if he didn't, Shawn would go on for hours about why warts can't worry and maybe even come up with some crazy explanation for how they could. Even Gus would be impressed if Shawn could come up with a logical explanation for that one.

"I'm serious…you haven't been this quiet since…" Gus trailed off as he tried to remember the last time Shawn hadn't been actively moving or going on about something. Beside the handful of hospital trips and Shawn's absence after high school….Gus couldn't remember a time that Shawn wasn't plotting something or just plain goofing off. It was who he was. Shawn didn't get serious…not often anyway. And definitely not quiet serious.

"Don't hurt yourself, Buddy." Shawn said, grinning at Gus as he tried to come up with an example. Gus glared at his friend.

"Not everyone has your memory, Shawn."

Shawn just shrugged and entered another spin.

"Shawn, I'm serious. You don't start talking, I'll…I'll"

"Tell on me, Gus? We're not twenty-six anymore."

"Fine. Don't tell me what's bothering you. See if I care." Gus stated, turning back to his desk and returning to his bank reconciliation. "And damn it, if you lose one more receipt from our Psych account, I am revoking your privileges! How the hell can you remember how many hats are in a room from one glance, but can't freaking keep track of a single receipt or the damn phone is a complete mystery to me! Maybe you should use those detective skills of yours to solve that!"

"Apparently Dad forgot something," Shawn muttered as he sighed heavily. "Iwanttotell Juliet." Shawn stated, the words coming out a jumbled mess, but after almost 30 years of friendship, Gus spoke fluent Shawn and knew exactly what came out of his mouth.

"Tell her what? That you would lose your head if it wasn't attached?"

"No. I want to tell her the truth."

"Which truth would that be?"

"Everything."

Gus snorted his response, but when he glanced over at Shawn, he saw a serious look in his best friend's eyes. Gus felt his blood run cold as his brain started to connect the pieces together. The silent contemplation, the avoidance, the look of complete and utter seriousness with a twinge of fear and desperation, it could only mean…but it couldn't. Shawn couldn't come clean. There was too much running on this one. Shawn wouldn't…but he wanted to.

"You don't mean about…" Gus waved his hand around the room to indicate the present location, not even wanting to voice the blasphemous words aloud. Shawn knew the consequences if he told the truth about Psych. Gus had made certain Shawn knew the consequences. Gus was also certain that Henry Spencer had also spent a fair amount of his time drilling that fact into Shawn's head as well.

"I have to."

"Shawn!"

"What Gus?"

"You can't…you tell her the truth, you're admitting to defrauding the police department! You will go to jail! I will go to jail! Your dad will go to jail!"

"I won't take you guys down with me." Shawn stated, simply.

"You can't promise that, Shawn!"

"Yes I can!"

"How, pray-tell, Shawn, can you promise that?"

"I coerced you into agreeing to do this."

"Right, like everyone is going to let your Dad and me off scot free for being accessories to defrauding the police department and letting them believe you are a psychic!"

"They won't. I promise you, Burton, if it comes down to it, I won't take you don't with me." Shawn stated, his voice completely serious and Gus couldn't argue with his tone or the use of his first name. Shawn never called him by his first name; from day one, he had always been "Gus" and never Burton. He honestly meant it. He would not let him go to jail for this. Not if there was something that Shawn could do about it.

Gus felt his legs grow weak and he didn't even remember standing up. He collapsed back into his chair and looked across the room at Shawn.

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

"I…I knew it was going to come out eventually. I mean…she's eventually going to figure it out sooner or later. I always thought…I don't know. I honestly don't know what I thought, but I knew it would happen eventually."

"Why now?"

Shawn sighed and looked down at the desk.

"I just…it hit me. What we were doing."

"What do you mean?"

"We're cons."

"Shawn, we're not"

"It's the same thing, Gus. We make our living by lying to people and profiting from it. We can tell ourselves we're doing to for the good of people, and a big part of me is alright with that. We help people. We save people and that's a jillion times better than most cons can say, and I'm ok with that. Hell, you and my dad are even ok with that. But I can't keep lying to Juliet. I can't keep coning her too if I expect us to keep working."

"Shawn-"

"It's true, Gus. You know it's true."

Silence passed between the two friends, both lost in their own thoughts.

"What brought this on?"

Shawn sighed.

"Like I said, in the back of my mind, I've been thinking about it for awhile. But it really hit me when I heard Jules say something to Frank. When she ran out of the police station after she realized her dad was working the con…I followed her outside. I just…I don't know. I wanted to do something for her, I guess. I heard them arguing and I stayed back…I'm not even sure if she knew I was there, but at the end of their argument, Jules said something and I can't stop thinking about it."

"What did she say?" Gus asked his voice sympathetic as he realized the cause for his friend's thoughts and guilt.

"'So congratulations, Frank. Your longest con of all was on your own daughter.'" Shawn said with a wince. "You should have heard her, Gus. The way she said it…" Shawn shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "I just…I can't do that to her too. I can't. I won't. Not anymore."

"I just…how do you think she'll react?" Gus asked, knowing that Shawn was set on this decision and it was time to be a friend and not a business associate.

"I don't know," Shawn stated with a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I know she'll be angry, probably disappointed too. I think Jules and Buzz are the only ones at the precinct who actually believe I am psychic." Shawn sighed again. "I can deal with that…I think. But I also think…if she lets me explain, I think she'll be ok with it. Not happy…but, you saw what she did when she found out about her dad. She didn't turn him in." Shawn, stated, his voice almost pleading as he stated the last part. Gus nodded his understanding and Shawn continued, wincing as he said the next words. "She just…banished him – or tried to – from her life."

"Are you sure?"

"No. But I know I can't keep doing this to her either. It's either tell her the truth or break up with her, and I don't really want to do either. I don't want to lose her, Gus. So…what choice do I have?"

Gus honestly didn't know what to say in response to Shawn's question. The pleading look in Shawn's eyes spoke volumes. He honestly did not want to do this. Gus could read the anxiety and fear in Shawn's eyes. Shawn really did know what this could mean for him; for all of them, if Juliet reacted like a cop instead of a girlfriend. That still didn't answer the question. There were only two options at this point. Tell the truth or keep the lie going. The easiest thing would be to just keep this going. To tell Shawn he was making a mistake going down this path he had settled on. But he also knew, it was the cowards way out. Like Shawn said before, it was going to come out eventually. It wouldn't hurt to have someone else on their side, someone reputable, to smooth things over when shit hit the fan.

Gus sighed.

"You have to tell her," Gus whispered, feeling his stomach churning uneasily at the words.

"I promise, Gus, you won't go to jail for this. I won't allow it."

Gus smiled at Shawn and nodded.

"You know that's right."

Both friends smiled uneasy smiles. Shawn looked away first.

"Just…tell me how it goes, ok? I'd rather not be blindsided when the police come to arrest me."

"I told you"

"Promise me, Shawn."

Shawn nodded in response. That was good enough for Gus. Shawn never expressly promised anything he couldn't guarantee.

"When are you going to tell her?"

"Tonight,"

"That fast, hu?"

"I need to get it over with," Shawn stated, looking almost as ill as Gus was feeling.

"Yeah," Gus said, with a sigh. "On the bright side, you get yourself arrested tonight, I don't have to worry about this damn bank account anymore."

Shawn grinned.

"Always think of the positive."

"And I can focus on my real job."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Psych is our real job?"

"And I won't be babysitting you anymore cuz you'll be locked up..." Gus paused before looking back at Shawn again, humor in his eyes. "Maybe you should have told her ages ago."

"I am wounded."

"You will get over it," Gus stated, grinning at Shawn.

"You'd miss me." Shawn stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I would get work done."

"You'd miss me more than you'd enjoy being a full-time drug dealer."

"You keep telling yourself that, Shawn."

"De-ni-al." Shawn stated, his voice sing-song as he spoke the singular word. "And I don't need a babysitter."

Gus just raised an eyebrow in response, turning back to his bank reconciliation, not even sure why he was bothering. It wasn't like he would be able to tell if the bank really did make an error or not.

Silence filled the office again as the friends went back to work. Gus noted that Shawn seemed to be more himself, fiddling with things and actively doing something on his computer, though he did notice the glances at the clock. Nervous tension seemed to grow as the day went on. Gus still wasn't as sure about Juliet's reaction as Shawn was. Yeah, she didn't turn in her father, but he was her father. That couldn't be easy. Neither would turning in Shawn; he was…Shawn. But it wasn't the same.

Gus sighed, finally giving up on the reconciliation and forcing his checkbook to match the bank, deciding it was worthless to even try to keep the thing balanced.

"Want to go for smoothies?" Gus asked, breaking the silence.

"I want to, but Jules is off in five minutes," Shawn stated. "I need to go and meet her." He added, looking a bit reluctant, sick, and happy all at once.

"Shawn, just…be careful with this, ok?"

"I know what I'm doing, Gus." An eyebrow raise was the only response Shawn received. "OK, I don't know what I'm doing, but…I'm going to do this."

"Shawn,"

"I know, Gus." Shawn stated, getting up to head for the door before turning around and looking at Gus. "Smoothies and Jerk Chicken tomorrow. You're buying."

"If we're not in jail, and why am I buying?"

Shawn just grinned and lifted his hand to his temple for a moment.

"I just know." He lowered his hand, his expression serious. "Later, Dude."

"Later," Gus stated, not as confident about getting smoothies and chicken tomorrow as Shawn was.

Pulling up to Juliet's building, Shawn Spencer parked his bike and turned off the engine. He sighed heavily as he unbuckled his helmet, his fingers fumbling a bit at the task that was almost second nature to him.

Get a grip! He told himself as he took the helmet in his shaking hands.

Taking a shaky breath, Shawn dismounted his bike and, not trusting his shaking fingers, placed the helmet on the back.

Swallowing the feeling to throw up (and run away), Shawn hurried up the path to Juliet's building, knowing if he hesitated a moment longer, he would chicken out and never have this conversation. He wasn't even sure if he was able to go through with it; but he was going to try. He knew this wasn't going to end well, but he hoped that with time and a long conversation, Juliet would come to understand why he did what he did.

Walking up the steps, he raised his hand to knock when the door opened.

"Shawn, you're early!" Juliet stated as she opened her door, a happy grin on her face. As she took in her boyfriends' expression, her smile began to fall. "Shawn, what's wrong?"

"Jules…we need to talk." Shawn stated, his voice serious.