Author's Note: I meant to get this up earlier today, but better late than never. Time to play catch the references. Before I go, I want to thank Bojaciuk and phnxgrl for their reviews. Glad to see you guys are liking this so far! Hope you enjoy!
Six men sat in the holding cell as they alternated between glaring at each other and glaring at Shawn who was having fun as he studied them from the other side of the bars. Several had bruises on their face and one had an arm in a sling. All were cross, but Shawn switched his focus as the pieces came into place.
"You want that one." He pointed to the man to the left of the one in the sling. "He's your guy."
"Are you sure?" Detective Juliet Ohara, but to Shawn she was Jules, turned to face him.
"Positive." He faced her as well but nodded to the cell. "But, for what it's worth, it was an accident."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sensing." He put his finger to his forehead and ignored the eye roll she gave him while grabbing her and pulling her close with his free hand. "I'm sensing that our instigator was jostled by the early morning crowd, after all Best Buy did have some good deals but I've yet to see the appeal of waiting in that line when I can buy stuff of the internet with Cyber Monday and Gus' credit card."
"Shawn, the point." She squirmed out from his embrace.
Dropping his arm back to his side, he turned to the cell. "The crowd jostled him into our friend in the blue hat which started the domino effect which led to the fight that landed all of them into the cell."
"How do you know all that?"
"I am but a messenger." Shawn nodded up and turned away from the holding cell as Jules wrote down what he said. "Are you still coming to the Psych office tomorrow?"
"Of course! We can decorate the office, watch Christmas movies on the big screen, take the picture for our Christmas card, and back cookies."
"Christmas card?"
"Yeah, for my Mom and Lloyd. Your parents. Old friends, family, you said you'd do it."
"When was that and were you bribing me with something fried because I don't think I should be held responsible." Shawn followed her up the stairs and back into the bullpen where she sat a pile of files down on her desk.
"You just have to smile for the camera."
"Fine."
"Detective Ohara, have you two finished sorting out the mess downstairs?" Chief Vick came out of her office, file in hand.
"Thanks to Shawn, all the Black Friday fights have been sorted out."
"Well then, once again, thank you for your help Mr. Spencer." Chief Vick's eyebrow went up the way it usually does when she was happy with his services.
"Just another Black Friday, Chief." Shawn shrugged. "And what's Black Friday without a few fights?"
"All the same, thank you for your help. Now there is a case I'd like you to consult on and I'm doing a briefing in about twenty minutes, so don't go far."
With that, she went back into her office and he saw her sit down and pick up the phone. Within a minute, her eyebrows had knitted together in the way they did when she was hearing something she didn't like.
"Wonder what's up?" Shawn watched her for a minute before turning back to the rest of the station. His eyes settled on Lassie who was sitting in the conference room with a girl who's back was to him. "Who's that with Lassie?"
"Not sure, she must have come in while we were downstairs."
Shawn studied the girl and while he couldn't see much since her back was to him, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her. But at the same time he was fairly certain that he'd never seen her before. But something about her was familiar.
"Earth to Shawn?"
He blinked when he saw Jules' hand waving in front of his face. Taking a step back he shook his head. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just going to…" He trailed off as he made his way to the door to get a better view.
"Don't annoy him too much." Jules called after him.
"I make no promises." His response was more of a mutter as he made his way to the door. Before he could open it, Gus appeared. "Buddy, took you long enough. Chief is doing a briefing in a bit. We've got a case."
"Does that case involve you annoying Lassiter before we can even get to the briefing?"
"No, that's a side project." Shawn opened the door. "Lassifrass! I'm sensing that you might need my services."
"For once, you would be wrong." Lassie rolled his eyes as the girl turned. When he saw her face, his heart dropped to his stomach and he got a nervous feeling in his gut.
No, it couldn't be.
Could it?
He had to find out. "I'm sensing you're not from around her. That maybe you're from DC?"
"One for one so far. Who are you?"
"Shawn Spencer, Head Psychic for the SBPD and this is my partner, Mystery Inc." He pointed towards Gus who just glared at him. "And you are?"
"Sydney Collins."
"Are you related to a Rebecca Collins? Usually likes to be called Becca, about my age, hair like yours, well minus the hot pink stripe."
"She was my mom." The girl brushed said stripe so that it was tucked behind her ear.
Becca was a mother?
"Was?" Gus caught the part that Shawn was missing.
"She passed away about three months ago."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Collins."
"While you can't replace your mother," Shawn grabbed a chair and dragged it so that he was sitting in front of her, looking into a familiar pair of green eyes. Wasn't possible.
But yet…
"I'm sensing you're here to find something, or rather someone."
"Three for three, not bad." She smiled at him, and once again, it was oh so familiar.
"Sydney, where did your name come from?"
"My mom told me that my dad once said that if he had a daughter he would name her Sydney because…"
"It's somewhere he wants to go." Jules' voice came from the doorway and she was staring at Sydney in shock.
"Sydney," He was sure but he had to be absolutely sure. "Have you ever met your father?"
"Not before today." Her response was quiet and while Shawn couldn't be sure, he wondered if he was the only one who heard it.
"When's your birthday?"
"Yesterday."
"And were you on time?"
"I was a few weeks early."
That was like the last nail in the coffin and Shawn knew who she was.
Looking over his shoulder, he could tell Gus and Jules were on the same page.
"Wait, but who's Rebecca Collins?" Lassiter broke the silence that had settled over the room.
"You met her, years ago. Granted you probably don't remember since you were a rookie rocking an interesting mustache. She was arrested the night my father arrested me for stealing that car."
"When you were eighteen."
"Yeah, Becca had a bit of a reputation, one that seemed to disappear the minute my dad pulled out the cuffs. And at the time, that's just what I wanted, with my parent's divorce and everything that was going on. I spent months convincing her to let me take her out. When she finally agreed, someone dared me to steal her neighbor's car and use it for the date. So, I did. After that night, she wanted nothing to do with me."
"So how does she fit in?" Lassiter nodded to Sydney.
"Apparently, Becca and I did more that night than we thought." Shawn looked back at the girl who was sitting in front of him. He noticed she was studying him and almost let his jaw drop when he saw her do a little head tilt like the one that Gus usually called him out on. The gasp behind him told him he wasn't the only one to catch it either.
But before anyone could say anything else, Chief Vick popped her head in. "I need you guys out here for the briefing. Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine, Chief." Shawn nodded to the group. "Head out guys, I'll be there in a second."
One by one, the group filed out, leaving Shawn alone with Sydney. Jules, the closest to the door, was the last to leave and she looked at the pair before turning and heading out, closing the door behind her. It closed with a click and Shawn turned back to face Sydney.
"I swear I had no idea."
"I know." A sad smile graced Sydney's face. "For years, I was angry at you, so angry that you weren't there. But then…"
"Then what?"
"Then, a week after my mother's funeral a friend brought me a letter. In it, she told me about you. So, I decided to come and see for myself. Plus I needed a fresh start after what happened and this seemed like a good opportunity."
"What happened?"
Sydney bit her lip before letting out a sigh. "Someday, I'll tell you. But right now, please don't ask me to go over it again."
Shawn studied her for a second and could practically see the wheels turning in her head.
"Okay. I've got to get out there." Shawn nodded outside.
"Leave the door cracked."
"Will do." Shawn stepped out of the room and into the bullpen, sliding into the back of the group beside Gus.
"So nice of you to join us, Mr. Spencer." Chief Vick still noticed. "As I was saying, last night five convicts escaped from the California Correctional Facility. I found out about an hour ago after two of the convicts were spotted just outside of Santa Barbara."
She clicked a button on her remote and four pictures came up on the screen. "Allison Crowly, Charles Wignall, Lily Jenkins, and ex detective Drimmer escaped from their cells and attacked the guards before escaping. They were joined by a fifth convict, a Sergio Crimmons who was convicted in a string of killings up and down the coast."
Another click of the button showed the security feed from the attack and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sydney wave at him.
"What's up?"
"Check the pocket on the blonde."
"What about it?"
Sydney nodded towards the screen. "She's got a cellphone bulge in her pocket and last I checked, inmates usually don't have cellphones on them."
"Nice catch." Shawn slipped back into the briefing just as the group escaped the prison grounds. "I'm sensing Allison Crowly somehow came into possession of a cell-phone."
"I'll look into it." Jules made her way over to her desk.
"I want these five back behind bars, now. There are copies of the files being passed around, familiarize yourself with the information. Keep in mind, they are considered to be dangerous and they might have a vendetta out on this department."
"And a certain psychic detective agency." Shawn muttered under his breath as he glanced at the conference room. Things just got a lot more complicated.
"Dismissed." Chief Vick made her way back into her office and closed the door.
Shawn made his way back to Sydney who had turned away from the bullpen and was looking through a file. "Should I ask how you got that?"
"I might not answer if you do." She didn't look up and instead flipped the page. "In sequential order, you have Drimmer, Crowly, Wignall, and then Jenkins. Out of the four, Jenkins is the lowest threat, wonder why they let her join the group."
"All that is in the file?"
"The dates are, but after I found who you were, I might have creeped you on the internet and found out about Jenkins." Sydney flipped through the files. "But you and Gus should be careful."
"I didn't introduce him as Gus."
"Internet, remember? Did a little digging after I realized your partner's named changed case to case."
"What about our fifth escapee?"
Shawn wasn't sure, but he thought he saw something cross her face. Fear, maybe? But it was quickly off her face and she looked down at the file. "Not sure, he could just be a prison buddy or he could have something on them."
His radar was going off, she was lying to him but he wasn't sure about what. But for now, he was going to drop it. "Well, how about we grab lunch. I'm on my seventh case of the day and it's only noon."
"Seventh?"
"Six Black Friday fights."
Sydney looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh yeah, it is Black Friday."
"You hungry?"
"A bit." Her stomach growled loud enough for both to hear. "Ok, more than a bit."
"Come on, kid."
Sydney got up and Shawn fell into step beside her. "Black Friday fights?"
Shawn laughed. "I got started on doing these when I got called in to solve a fight involving a con man posing as a Santa. Since then, the Chief lets me make some easy money on Black Friday."
"Sounds like you have some stories."
Gus joined them. "Be careful saying that around him, he likes to exaggerate."
"I do not."
"You do so!"
"What are you two, six?" Sydney laughed as they stepped out of the station.
It was dark before the Blueberry stopped in front of the familiar beach-side house. Behind them, a white convertible came to a stop. While they day had been fun, showing Sydney the Psych office, the peanut, pretzel, ice cream, and smoothie vendors of the area, and a few other local spots, they were no closer to solving the case.
And none of the escapees had been seen around Psych's usual haunts.
"Are you sure about this?" Gus turned to him, neither getting out of the car.
"He's going to find out. And it might go a little better if I'm the one to tell him." Shawn glanced out the window at his dad's house and let out a sigh. "Let's get this over with."
Getting out, he turned and saw Sydney studying the house, a look of confusion, fear, and uncertainty crossing her face as all three emotions seemed to try and take lead.
He went over to her door and knocked on the window and she jumped as she turned to him. "Everything okay?"
"New experience overload, just a bit."
He looked at her thoughtful, seeing the chink in her armor that lasted for just a second. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite. Well, me he might but you're pretty safe."
She looked at him. "It's just…"
"Just what?"
"I tend not to do well with grandparents."
"What's wrong with Becca's parents?"
A sigh was his answer and at first that was all he thought he was going to get before she answered, quietly. "Mom's parents didn't want to have anything to do with me. You weren't around and I think they blamed me for what happened. If I hadn't been born, Mom wouldn't have had to struggle to balance a job while taking night classes. She could have married someone else and been happy. But no, I was there."
At first, Shawn honestly didn't have an answer for her. The idea that Becca's parents had let this little girl, well she wasn't so little anymore, feel that way. Grandparents were supposed to spoil grandkids rotten, let them get away with things that their parents wouldn't.
"Well, I think you are about to have a good experience." Shawn held out his hand and Sydney took it, allowing him to help her up out of the car.
Gus was waiting by the gate and they fell into step together. Before they could reach the porch, the light came on and the door opened and Shawn found himself face to face with his dad about three minutes sooner than he wanted.
"Shawn?"
"Hey, Dad. Got a second?"
"Yeah." His Dad held open the door and the three walked inside. Shawn glanced over to see Sydney study the room, her eyes flying to the different things around before positioning herself so that she could see the front door, the door to the kitchen, and the stairwell.
She'd been doing that a lot today, now that Shawn thought about it.
"Shawn!"
Shawn snapped out of his thoughts and saw his dad watching him. "Care to explain why you're here this late and who she is?"
"If you take a good look, you might know the answer."
The sight that met Shawn next was a highly amusing one. His dad walked over to Sydney and both entered a stare down as one studied the other, neither breaking the stare. To his surprise, it as his father that finally broke the stare, looking away to turn back to Shawn in shock.
"Please tell me you and Becca did not have sex in the back of a stolen car."
"Well, if that would make you feel better…" Shawn took a step back as he felt his father's gaze harden.
"I cannot believe you were that stupid."
"I think we established long ago that I was pretty stupid back then."
"Guys!" Sydney stepped between them. "You two are not about to start up an old fight over me. Cause it looks like you guys are still getting over what had to be years of tension and I'm not going to make it worse."
Henry turned back to Sydney and Shawn watched a variety of emotions cross his face. "What's your name?"
"Sydney."
"Henry."
She shook his hand, a smile growing on her face. "You're not mad at Shawn, are you?"
"I think it was more surprise." A smile grew on his face and already Shawn could see that Sydney would quickly have him wrapped around her finger.
She seemed to have that effect on a lot of people.
"Did you guys eat, are you hungry?" The question might have been directed to the room, but his eyes didn't leave Sydney.
Ruffling in the kitchen proved that Gus had already helped himself but even as they laughed, Shawn could still sense the tension that hung on the trio as they stood around the living room.
"When did you get to Santa Barbara?"
"Late last night, I had Thanksgiving dinner with a few friends in LA but then decided to come up because I had the appointment with Detective Lassiter this morning."
"Where are you staying?"
"The beachfront Sheraton."
"Well, one thing's for sure, Shawn's going to go back with you, check you out, and you're going to stay here for the time being. Cause the way I see it is this house is way to big for just me and while you figure out what you want to do, you have a place to stay."
Tears formed in Sydney's eyes and Shawn watched as she flung herself into his dad's arm. He seemed surprised and rubbed her back and looked up with Shawn a questioning look in his eyes.
"I'll tell you later. And actually, we don't have to go back."
His father nodded and it took Sydney a second to pull herself back together but she then turned to him in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"While you and Gus were going on and on about the boring side of Psych earlier, I might have snuck over to your hotel, grabbed your stuff, stashed it in the Blueberry." Shawn turned to his dad. "One question, how are you about pets?"
"What do you have?"
"A rabbit." Sydney smiled.
His father laughed. "She's yours alright."
Gus came out of the kitchen and it only took one trip for them to get Sydney's stuff into the house. Shawn made his way to the guest room and saw a pile of sheets. Just as he was starting to unfold them, his father came in with a comforter.
"You okay?" His dad sat the comforter on a chair and helped him spread out the sheets.
"Yeah, just still processing. I mean… I had no idea and she's." Shawn tucked a sheet into a corner. "She's eighteen, Pops. I missed it all. Her first steps, her first birthday, her first steps, her first day of school, first peewee soccer game, first date, dance, prom, high school graduation."
"You can't change that."
"It doesn't make me feel any better. Those tears earlier? Becca's parents have never wanted to have anything to do with her. They blame her when they should have blamed me. She was scared to meet you because she was scared you would be the same way."
Several emotions crossed his father's face. "Who would do that to a little girl?"
"Here you go, Chipper." Sydney came back into the bedroom with a water bottle. "What do you think?"
The rabbit, Chipper, twitched his nose and Shawn watched her baby it for a second before turning back to the two of them. "I could have done that."
"We didn't mind." Shawn grabbed the comforter and they spread it over the bed.
"Sydney, where does this go?" Gus came into the room holding a bowl of rabbit feed.
"In the cage, right back corner." She let out a large yawn. "You would think I would be off of East Coast time by now."
Shawn adjusted the comforter on the bed and looked up at the girl. "Get some sleep, it's been a long day."
He headed for the door taking a look at the scene. "Night, Syd."
"Night Shawn."
Hope you guys enjoyed it! See you all on Monday!