Disclaimer: I've not yet managed to take over USA Network, and control the lives of our favorite characters.
If you don't know the story 'The Lady or the Tiger' by Frank R. Stockton, you might want to google it before reading this.
First Shules fic...First psych fic for that matter. I don't think I'm quite able to capture the characters very well yet, but that may also be because it's somewhat a crossover. (my first crossover...lots of firsts in this one)
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It was 4:37 in the morning. The average citizen in Santa Barbara was asleep at this hour; not Juliet though. It had been nearly an hour since Detective O'Hara had woken up.
She was abruptly awake after a horrifying dream. Her heart was pounding so that it hurt, and her chest was damp with sweat. After taking a few moments to subdue her breathing and clear her head, Jules tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't empty her mind enough to get any peace.
About a month after Shawn and Abigail broke up, Juliet finally allowed herself to go on a date with him. They had only been dating for a couple of months, but they both loved each other. Now that they were together, they realized how long they'd actually cared for the other, without really knowing it.
Though Shawn and Juliet basically lived together, Jules was alone tonight. They didn't want to rush into anything and mess it up, so they only stayed nights with each other sometimes. Had Shawn been there, she would have woken him up, and he would have made everything better by force feeding her pineapple or watching infomercials with her at 3 am.
Since he wasn't there, Juliet just lay on her back and stared up at her ceiling fan, trying to make sense of the dream that put her in this awful state.
-.x.-.x.-.X.-.x.-.x.-
Juliet was dressed in cerulean blue floor length gown, decorated with all kinds of stitching and lace. Her long blond hair hung almost to her waist in thick curls; two braids starting just above each ear circled her head and met in the back, like Drew Barrymore in Ever After.
She was sitting on a rock on the beach, her bare feet digging into the soft sand. Shawn was standing next to her, also barefoot. He too was dressed in less modern clothing, but it was obvious that he wasn't as wealthy as Juliet was. It didn't matter to her though.
The sun set on the horizon, and Shawn suddenly stood, taking Juliet's hand and pulling her towards the water. They were never the type to sit around and do nothing. She looked at the empty beach around her and thought of the possibilities. Shawn pulled her further, until he was standing in two inches of water. Jules smiled wickedly and in one quick motion, she stepped on his feet and gently pushed his chest so that he fell backwards into the midnight ocean. She never expected him to drag her down with him.
"JULIET O'HARA!" She winced at her father's voice. He wasn't going to be happy that she was in love with someone like Shawn. Her dad had always dreamt of her finding a rich prince who could take over when the time came. And now he was watching her sneak around, in the ocean with someone less than what he considered worthy.
In a flash she was sitting high above the ground looking around the arena. There was no empty seat. Juliet recognized this. It was her father's form of punishment. Put the accused in the arena and have him choose one of two doors. One holds a hungry tiger, the other, a beautiful woman. If the accused picks the door with the tiger, chances are he will be eaten alive, or at least ripped to shreds. If he were to pick the door with the lady, he would marry her immediately, no matter if he had a family, or a lover of any sort.
Juliet's heart was racing with anticipation. Any moment, the man that she loved unconditionally was about to walk out into the middle of the arena and open a door that would choose his fate, all because they got caught.
The night before, she had paid someone to inform her about the situation. She knew which door would open to a very upset and hungry tiger. She also knew which beautiful women stood behind the opposite door.
It was Abigail. An enemy of Juliet's. If Shawn were to pick the door that led to her, they would be married right there. She would watch him open the door, and suddenly have another woman in his arms. She would watch the ceremony, see the faces in the crowd who were relieved that he didn't die. She didn't think she would be able to handle it.
But would she rather him die? If he picked the other door, she would have to watch him be ripped apart and become a meal for the most fierce of all tigers in the kingdom. Her father had made sure that they picked the worst one. Just the thought of Shawn being harmed in any way, made her uneasy.
Juliet's thoughts were interrupted by a unanimous short gasp from nearly every face in the arena, as Shawn walked to face the two doors. Every single person who had come to watch him had their eyes glued to him, watching, waiting to see which door he'd pick. Everyone was so concentrated, that they didn't notice him staring at Juliet. He was waiting for her to hint to him which door to pick.
Her heart was beating at a dangerously high rate, as she raised her hand, and every so slightly pointed to the right. He mouthed the words 'I love you' and without a second thought, Shawn grabbed the handle and bravely pulled open the door, willing to take whatever fate Juliet had chosen for him. He loved her whether he was greeted by death, or an unwanted marriage.
-.x.-.x.-.X.-.x.-.x.-
Just as the door was opening, and Shawn was about to figure out whether or not he got to live, Juliet woke up in panic; heart pumping, chest sweating, and her cheeks stained with tears.
She felt awful for having such a dark dream. Juliet knew the story well. It had been one of her favorites growing up. She always put herself in the princess's position, and wondered whether she would have chosen the tiger or the lady for someone she loved. Now she was angry, that she was quite literally in the princess's shoes, but she didn't know what she had picked for a man she truly did love.
Shit!
She didn't like to think of herself as a jealous person, but she had to watch Shawn prance around with Abby far too long. But she knew she honestly could never purposely cause him pain. At this point she wished she was in the arena…or at least somewhere with a peace of mind and the ability to sleep.
Jules tried to calm herself down. Abigail was gone, and Juliet's father liked Shawn a lot. He would never put him in front of thousands of people, forced to choose his fate. He would never harm Shawn, for that matter.
Still, she couldn't believe she would even consider bringing Shawn any harm, whether it was mental, physical, or emotional. Even if it was just in a dream.
Finally, fed up with being restless, Juliet threw the covers off her bed, and marched adamantly to her kitchen. She grabbed a plastic box filled with chunks of pineapple (Shawn had sliced up 3 whole pineapples, with reasons that were beyond Juliet), and she grabbed her gun out of her purse on the table. She hopped on top of her counter, stuck a chunk of pineapple in her mouth, and started to dissemble and reassemble her weapon. 20 minutes later, she was asleep on her couch, the box of pineapple sitting on her stomach.
-x-x-X-x-x-
Juliet woke up with Shawn sitting on her now asleep legs. He had a box on his lap that used to contain a rather large amount of pineapple. She stared at the box…could it really all be gone?
"Morning sunshine."
"Hey Shawn…what's up?" She was a little confused.
"Lassie was really worried about you since you didn't come to work…he was a mess. I came to check on you for him."
"He was worried? He said that?"
"Well…no, but I could see it in all his anger."
"You ate all the pineapple…" I decided to ignore the Lassiter comment.
"Jules, I had to. You left it out for god knows how long…it was all I could do to save it from the horrible fate of spoliation."
She shivered at the word 'fate'.
"You okay Jules?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. You know what? Let's not work today."
"Whoa, Juliet O'Hara? Playing hooky? I'm so proud of you!" He gave her a quick kiss, and pulled her off the couch. "Go get dressed."
"Where are we going?"
"Pssh. All these years and you think I would give you an answer? You've got a lot to learn."
"Fine." Juliet turned on her heel, and headed towards her closet. She pulled on a pair of jeans, Shawn's apple jacks t-shirt, and then laced up a pair of converse (Shawn got her started on them, and now they were her favorite.). Shawn tossed her aviator cop glasses at her, and she stuck them on her head. He grabbed her waste, and gently led her out the door.
They walked to the board walk, and bought pineapple smoothies. Within the next few hours, the sun was setting, and the couple found and empty spot on the beach. Shawn sat Juliet on a rock, and leaned up next to her. It was an oddly familiar scene for her, one she didn't want to think about. Looking at him now, she knew what she would have done, if in fact she had a barbaric father who wanted to kill the love of her life. Just because the story didn't have and ending didn't mean that she couldn't have one. They would have escaped together. Shawn was clever, and they truly did love each other. Even if it seemed impossible, they would have made it happen. She knew they'd be together for the rest of their lives. She knew it.
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I hope you liked it. I had a lot of issues writing, and it took quite a while. There were some problems getting to and end, but I've finally finished.
Reviews are lovely. Don't be shy. I'll take anything if it helps inspire me to become a better writer. kk