Series: De Facto

Chapter: Chapter One: "The Best Part of Believe Is The Lie" 1/5

Disclaimer: All characters depicted in sexual situations in this post/fanfiction/fanart (including material in the comments) are fictional and are intended to be and considered to be by the author of said material of the legal age of consent in the United States, regardless of what age these characters may be in the material they are derived from.

Rating: PG-15

Word Count: 1,675

Author's Note/Warnings: un-betaed; this Chapter covers prompt 04 "days" from table 04 "Time".

In the days following Shawn regaining consciousness he was put through various scans and other health tests. During which Gus was busy acquiring the best possible pain meds for him—which Shawn was grateful for, but was too loopy to express his appreciation coherently.

He was in the hospital for quite some time in order to recuperate and be observed. Had Shawn been able to stay on topic long enough he would have argued that Gus and his Father wouldn't be leaving him alone for months after he was declared 'healed'. As it was, he was heavily medicated. It was in a haze that he dealt with his Dad's lecturing him about 'that deathtrap' while barely covering up how worried he was about his son; the hesitant visit from Chief Vick to inquire about his health and possible head trauma; Gus' mother-henning; and of course Juliet dragging in Lassie to check in on him. Gus, in his regaling of events, told Shawn that Lassie and Jules had actually been there when he was hit. Shawn had questions, of course, but he couldn't make his brain and mouth work together very well.

Days after that and Shawn was brought home. Everything was normal (if not painful from the move and irritating from the anxiety in the forms of Gus, his Dad and surprise, surprise!—his Mom). It took some time to convince Gus to go back to his apartment while his parents hovered around, making certain that he wasn't in pain and had things to keep him busy. It wasn't terrible, overall, he did end up reading through a couple stacks of paperback books he'd been saving up for rainy days that never seemed to happen. He also put his eyes to good use, watching TV and playing video-games.

Once he was determined to be ready for a wheel chair (and his pain meds dropped back to smaller rations) Shawn was beginning to get extremely stir-crazy. Gus took the day off to drive him to the hospital, get an okay from the doctors to be out and about, and swing by the Santa Barbara PD to visit everyone. It was a rather normal day, besides having randomly spat out to his Dad that if he really wanted to be better friends with Lassie, he shouldn't criticize something that was meant to help the poor man relax. Oh, and he should probably get a boat with an actual cabin to it. His Dad had been completely confused and insisted he hadn't said anything but Shawn had shaken his head and snapped at Gus to hurry up—he needed to get to his appointment.

The visit to the SBPD was delightful—Shawn had enjoyed being pampered by Buzz (he drove out and bought him a pineapple smoothie, overjoyed at the fact that Shawn seemed alright. Juliet had held doors open for him while he wheeled through, Gus hovered about, worried that this would all be too much, and Lassie frowned at him. It was when he was leaving that Shawn grew tired. It was like a sudden weight dropped onto him and he just couldn't resist the pull of sleep anymore. It was slightly surprising to him when he woke at his Dad's with the scent of grilled chicken and a green salad wafting through the house. Last he'd known he'd been saying goodbye to Chief Vick. His sudden sleeping spell was written off as the visit having expended what little energy he had.

The next day he went out to lunch, accompanied by his mother and Chief Vick with her daughter. Shawn had fun coloring with Iris while the two mothers spoke. He did chip in on the conversation at some points (like when he told Chief Vick that puppies were a lot to take care of, and kitties had claws so perhaps a bunny was the best decision for while a young child was in the house). That one had seemed to surprise Karen, but she had smiled and gone along with it regardless. His mother insisted on buying him a pineapple smoothie as a treat before they returned home. Gus came over after work to check on him. Shawn assured him that he wasn't going to up and run away again. He went on about it rather seriously for a moment before Gus seemed to feel a bit more relaxed. Shawn offered him a smile and then went on to tell him all about the latest episode of The Mentalist.

It was after that that things started to get strange. The next day Gus took him to the Psych Office to get him out of his parents' hair for a bit. Juliet had shown up as they had been discussing which season of Thundercats they should watch (Shawn didn't remember the last episode they had watched, which he blamed the accident for, and Gus hadn't exactly been watching at the time). Shawn had taken one look at her and words popped out of his mouth.

"Personally I would say dress feminine—you're smoking, but I know how worried you are about your career and how no one ever takes you seriously. After weighing the pros and cons, the outcome is dress practically."

He grinned, knowing that there was actual sincerity behind his words, but not knowing where this dilemma had come from. Gus scrunched his face at him in confusion and rolled his eyes, apologizing on his behalf because the pain meds were apparently still affecting him. Shawn had intended on turning to Gus and telling him exactly how much the meds were affecting him and how much brain damage he didn't have when more words tumbled past his lips.

"Mira wasn't worth it, dude. Besides, you can't have a Mira and a Spenstarr in your life. It's one or the other."

His eyebrows raised and he clamped his lips shut, shrugging at his best friend. After that, they went out to lunch, avoiding the subject entirely as they ate their jerk chicken.

The next day, his Mom went back to work, which meant that after she left, his Dad took him to the SBPD. On the road there, Shawn gave a sideways glance at his Father several times, trying to not say anything. Finally, when he went to ask about rolling down the window, the words came out without much warning or tact.

"I don't see much messing us up as long as you keep your romance to yourself."

He bit his lip at his Dad's heavy look at him. And suddenly the turn signal was on and the wheels bumped off the tar, jostling Shawn slightly. Shawn made a face and adjusted his position, looking towards his Dad when the vehicle was stopped.

"I don't think that warranted a pull-over, Dad."

His Father's grim face made him pause.

"Can I at least roll down the window?"

He got no response, but did it anyway, looking anywhere but at his Dad. Finally, after what felt like days, his Dad spoke up.

"Guster told me about what happened the other day."

Shawn shrugged and tried not to think about how he was cooking in the sunlight and looking forward to the pineapple smoothie he was absolutely positive Buzz had waiting for him.

"What's going on, Shawn? There's no tells, I know that much. And you have way too many details to not have known this beforehand. The Doctors say you have no brain damage, so what gives Kid?"

Again, Shawn shrugged and peered across the street, watching as people went about their day. After a few more heavy moments of silence, Henry gave a ragged sigh and steered the truck back onto the pavement and on their way to the police station. Shawn avoided talking to him from then on out. Buzz had gotten him a pineapple smoothie.

The next day he had to himself, watching TV and getting called by his Mom all while Henry was out boat shopping.

The day after that Shawn was back at the Station. He had been in the Chief's office for a while when Buzz came in, toting a smoothie and seeming hesitant. Shawn looked up from his looking through case files (that weren't his, but that didn't matter) and grinned.

"I could never be pineapple-smoothied out, Buzzy!"

The cop answered with a grin of his own. They chatted for a bit before Lassie poked his head in.

"Oh, Spencer, you're here."

Shawn grinned and caught a hint of a thought in the Head Detective's expression, but it seemed half-formed. Shawn shook himself mentally and took a sip of his smoothie.

"Yup, looks like it."

Lassie looked over at Buzz and frowned, ordering him off to do something. He hesitated, looking between his desk and Shawn before he angled his hips into the room.

"Does the Chief know you're in here?"

Shawn shrugged. "I was here when she left, so I would assume so."

Lassie shook his head and stepped fully into the room, sitting down in a chair across the desk from him.

"Any good cases there?"

It almost... it almost seemed as if Lassie didn't want to be having this conversation. Like he was forcing himself to. Shawn's fingers rifled through the stack he hadn't read and stopped on one.

"This one seems good."

Not sure how he knew that, but he was sure of it. He handed it over to the Detective and shrugged.

"But I don't know the details. You'll enjoy yourself, though."

A quirked eyebrow and Shawn shrugged, lifting a hand and gesturing to his temple.

"I know things, you know?"

The Head Detective shook his head and stood up, flicking through the file.

The funny thing was that Shawn was beginning to think he actually did just know things. It was intriguing and yet intimidating. He vowed to divine his own future in the bathroom tonight. Maybe with that Ouija Board his Dad had in the basement (that never got opened).