First order of business, I want to thank Vitani's-Chainsaw who helped me with the name of the story! Thanks Vivi! ^.^
Secondly I'm going to warn you guys right now that Carlton may seem a bit OOC but in my mind if he grew up with Shawn he probably wouldn't be as cranky as he is in the show. With Shawn as a constant it probably helped him keep a bit more of a level head and see the finer points in life. I'm so proud of myself; this is the longest chapter I have ever written in my life. Over 7000 words in this one chapter alone. Now enjoy the lastest chapter in A New Sibling!
1983
After Carlton was settled in and the four had their first awkward dinner together, Shawn's mom went to bed early while Henry tucked them in. Carlton entered the room and saw two twin beds in it, one on each side. The one on the right had a blue comfiture on top, while the one on the left was plain. Shawn ran in and jumped right into the bed on the right, while Carlton stood in the doorway clutching the old teddy bear.
"This is going to be your room from now on Carlton. We weren't sure what color you would like so you can go with Shawn and my wife shopping tomorrow." Henry said standing next to him. He only nodded in understanding and timidly went to his bed and pulled back the covers. He slowly crawled in and clutched the teddy more. "Well, Good night you two." He said turning off the light.
After a couple of minutes of silence and Shawn heard his dad snoring in the other room, he pulled out a flash light from the night stand on his side of the room and turned it on. The two blinked, eyes slowly adjusting back to the bright light. "How old are you?" Shawn asked flashing the light in the other boys face. He just stared and didn't respond. "Why are you staying with us now? Dad said it was cuz your mom couldn't take care of you and your dad isn't around. Why can't your mom take care of you?" Still no response. "Well, where's your dad then?" Silence. "Can you talk?"
More silence followed and Shawn was about to give up and turn off the light when a small voice answered. "I'm nine years old."
"Really!" Shawn perked up. "I'm only seven, but mom says I'm big for my age. Can I ask you something? Why do you have that old teddy bear?"
There was silence for awhile and Shawn was about to give up, thinking he overstepped it when Carlton finally answered. "My dad gave it to me on my sixth birthday. It was the last day I saw him, the next day he was gone. Mother said it was because he didn't love us anymore."
"Oh." Silence filled the room and Shawn finally turned off the light, just setting it down on the nightstand. Neither went to sleep, just listened to the rain outside the window while a symphony of snores sounded from down the hall. The two sat for a long time listening and were starting to drift off to sleep when suddenly the room filled with a bright light and a clap of thunder was heard. Shawn hastily reached for the light and turned it on. The boys looked at each other in fright.
"If just for one night, just to be safe…" Shawn started to say and Carlton nodded in agreement.
The older climbed out and snuggled in with the younger, and if each time there was a loud boom and they both flinched, neither ever said anything about it. The next morning Henry came in and smiled at what he saw. Quickly and quietly he tip-toed back to his room and grabbed a camera and woke Maddline. "Wha?" She asked sleepiness still in her voice.
"Come here."
"What is it?"
"Just come." She climbed out and they made their way down the hall, then stopping in front of the door that was open a crack. She reached out and slowly pushed the door open then awed at the sight in front of her. There was a small flash beside her as Henry took the photo. Years later they looked back on the photo that was now framed on the mantel. Two little boys were clinging to each other, in a deep sleep, a teddy bear lying between them.
Present
Carlton drove straight to the address that the chief gave him over the phone. He pulled his red Crown Vic into the driveway and was awed at the size of the house. Right as he climbed out and started to walk up to the house, a black and white pulled up beside him. Lucinda got out of the passenger side and he smiled at her, then Dobbson got out and they glared.
"Glad you were able to get away from that pain-in-the-ass brother of yours long enough to do your job." Dobbson sneered.
"Why don't you just-" Lassiter moved to punch the guy.
"Lassiter!" Lucinda held him back. " He's just riling you up, come on." She physically turned him away and gave a little push. Lassiter gave one last glare then walked off. Dobbson smirked and walked in the same direction.
The two ignored each other in the house and if they had to talk, they talked through Lucinda. Sometime later they were all in the living room when Shawn and Gus walked in. They all started at each other for a moment then Shawn spoke up, yelling across the room.
"Hi little brother!" He stood there waving then Gus grabbed his arm and pulled him away. Everyone in the room went silent and started at Carlton.
His face went ten shades of red. "What are you all looking at, get back to work!" He sputtered. Everyone scrabbled back to work. Lucinda tried to hide her smile but was failing while Dobbson was full on smirking at him. An hour later Lassiter still didn't hear anything coming from the fake psychic or Gus so he went off in search of the two knowing a quiet Shawn is never a good Shawn. He walked in to find Gus gawking at the picture the sketch artist drew. Looking up he spied the same picture of a guy in his 20's or early 30's who had his arm draped over the shoulders of who he recognized as the daughter of McCouland.
Him and Gus glanced at each other and were about to yell at Shawn no but were cut off by a scream. Mrs. McCouland and the daughter were yelling about it being her boyfriend while Carlton motioned with his head for Gus to get the picture. Shawn, seeing this, started to make a big commotion on his side of the room. "Ok everybody stop!" There was a pause as everyone looked at him. "Sorry, not the kidnaper, Bill is not the kidnaper. Bill is just a horrible human being. Who is Bill, cuz I'm getting multiple women." Shawn kept going on about how 'terrible' Bill is and Lucinda in the doorway rolled her eyes and walked off while Dobbson looked to be shaking with rage. Lassiter squinted and noticed that he was about to get his cuffs out. Alarmed he sprinted over to Shawn and grabbed his shoulder and motioned for Gus to follow him. Once they were out of hearing range of everyone he pushed Shawn at a wall. "What is wrong with you!" He hissed. "You are here to help solve this case, not get a date!" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, now calmed down a bit spoke again. "You need to tred a little more carefully, ok? Dobbson was this close to arresting you." He put his thumb and index finger real close together.
Shawn looked really close. "Only this close? Looks like I need to try harder next time."
Lassiter clenched his fist then took a deep breath counting to ten in his head. "Just, get out of here, ok? That way you have a next time."
"Fine, come on Gus, to the blueberry!" Shawn pointed and started to march ahead.
"Just be careful!" Shawn just kept marching with Gus in tow.
An hour later when the three detectives were done in the house they came out to find Shawn lounging back on the hood of Carlton's car. They all stopped in front of him; Lucinda and Dobbson looked confused while Lassiter looked annoyed.
"Shawn." He said but got no response.
"Shawn!" He tried again louder but still nothing. Then a smirk slowly started to grow on his face and he got closer to him. He stuck his finger in his mouth, wetting it, then forced it in the sleeping man's ear. As soon as he did that Shawn spazzed out causing him to fall off on the passenger side. When he shot back up he was glaring at the smirking man and clawed at his ear.
"Dude, that is so unfair! You know I hate that! Ewww ewww ewwwwwwww! Now I got your spit all up in my ear!"
"Good, it's a lesson to you not to sleep on my car. You're just lucky that it didn't dent."
"Are you calling me fat! Cuz you know I have self esteem issues."
"Oh, you have issues all right."
Dobbson rolled his eyes and walked to his black and white. Lucinda smiled at their antics and joined him.
"Bye Carlton. See you tomorrow."
He smiled and gave a little wave good bye. Shawn rolled his eyes and spoke up when the car was gone and Carlton was still just standing there. "Come on Romeo, I'm hungry and we still need to talk."
Carlton snapped back to reality and unlocked the car so the two can get in. "What were you still doing here anyways? I thought you left an hour ago." Carlton spoke up once the car was on the road.
"I'm flying solo now. Gus quit." He said solemnly leaning his head on his hand, looking out the window.
Carlton sighed and glanced at Shawn, taking one hand off the wheel, he patted his shoulder. "I hate it when the two of you fight."
Shawn rolled the hand off him and spoke. "Whatever." He then perked up. "So where are we going to eat?"
"Sam and Jose's?"
"Sweet. By the way, what's the deal with Dobbson? He acts like he'd be the happiest guy alive to see your corpse."
"Probably." Carlton scoffed. "He's just sore because I became head detective over him." He explained.
"Well, I can't see him having to grow up with dad."
"He wouldn't last a day." Carlton parked and pulled out the keys. "At least he can go in restaurants without subconsciously counting how many hats are in the room."
They got out and walked in when Shawn started to talk in a deep gravelly voice. "You never know when knowing how many hats are in the room can save your life."
Carlton laughed and hit his arm lightly. "Stop it." When they sat down and got the menus Shawn noticed something and he sighed, throwing the menu down on the table.
"What?" Carlton asked noticing Shawn's mood drop.
"Billy Kample works here so there goes my normal chicken enchilada."
"Ok first, who's Billy Kample? And second, what does it matter that he works here?"
"I used to sit next to him in chem. Lab back in high school. He has the worst hay fever in the history of the world. So guess who's on the grill?"
"Ahhh, is that why you came home one day missing an eyebrow?"
"Yep, learned the hard way not to let him mix the chemicals."
Just then a waitress walked up. "What can I get you guys?"
The two looked at each other. "Cheese Quesadilla, please." They both said.
"All right." She wrote it down and took their menus then left.
"So to the question of the day, why did you change your last name?" Shawn leaned forward and propped his folded hands on the table, studying Carlton.
Carlton sighed and leaned back. He tried to think of a way to explain. Finally after about thirty seconds he spoke up. "You know dad's rep at the station, the human lie detector. He was one of the best detectives on the force." Shawn nodded for him to continue. "So when I was at the academy with Spencer as my surname, everyone thought that I got there because of dad. So after I graduated I changed it back to Lassiter." They were silent for a few moments until the food came.
"Thanks."
"Is there anything you two would like to drink?"
They looked at each other and nodded.
"I'll have the root beer please." Shawn said.
"And I'll have the sprite." Carlton said.
"I'll be right back." A minute later she came back with two glasses putting one in front of the each of them. They both drink about half of it in one go.
"You first, my good sir." Shawn said in a terrible British accent.
"Why, thank you sir." Carlton said in an equally bad accent. He poured his drink in Shawn's glass then put the glass down. Shawn then did the same with his but only dumped half the glass into Carlton's keeping half for himself. They both took a sip at the same time and smiled.
"It's been years since I last did that."
"Same here." Shawn responded. There was a pause as they both ate and near the end Shawn spoke up not being able to let it go. "But why Lassiter? Of all the names why pick the one with the worst memories?"
Carlton took his last bite then whipped his face. He took a breath then answered. "Because I didn't want it to be just bad memories anymore." Shawn nodded in understanding and Carlton paid. Shawn spoke up when they got outside.
"Think you can take me back to the station? My bikes still parked there."
"Sure." They got in and went to the station. "By the way, what did you find at the house?"
"What're you talking about?" Shawn looked up.
"I know you, you found something there that we missed."
"Nothing that makes sense yet."
"But you found something." It was a statement not a question.
"What do you think? Thanks for the ride." Shawn jumped out of the car before he got the chance to respond and ran to his bike. Carlton jumped out of the car after him but by the time he got out Shawn was already on the bike.
"See ya later!" Shawn yelled as he took off. Carlton sighed for about the hundredth time that day and went into the station shaking his head.
The next day at the station Carlton was working at his desk. He paused typing just to take a quick bite of the burger that was off to the side but other than that he was hard at work. He heard running and looked up to see Shawn rushing to his desk, Gus behind him yelling.
"Shawn, quit running!"
"Can't Gus! Carly! This is really important!"
He took a deep breath. "Shawn, if it's about the case, there's nothing I can do." He went back to typing.
"But I got something!"
"You have to run it by Dobbson."
"What! Why!" Shawn's voice raised an octave.
"Stop yelling Shawn." Carlton growled.
Shawn took a deep breath to calm down and started again. "Why can't I just tell you? Last I heard you're head detective and-"
Carlton cut off what Shawn was about to say next. "Because he's point on this case. Any new leads have to be run through him."
"Well, where can I find him then?" Shawn was getting impatient.
"He's out at lunch but you should be able to catch him, he's eating at a certain Mexican restaurant. Another thing." He spoke up as Shawn turned to run out the door.
"What!"
"In case you can't convince him to listen to you, Billy's working again today." Carlton winked and Shawn grinned.
"Thanks for that." Shawn then reached out and grabbed the rest of the burger. "And for the food." Shawn then ran out with Gus nagging him. Lucinda walked up beside him.
"You want me to go with them?"
"Please? Dobbson tends to listen to you more." Carlton begged.
"Sure, but in return you pay tonight." She smirked.
A couple hours later there was a call from Dobbson that they found the place that the son was being held. When Carlton, the chief, and some others from the station plus all of the SWAT were there, Carlton broke off to walk up with Shawn and Gus.
"I thought the two of you were fighting?" He said as he joined the two.
"Well if someone breaks into your apartment at six in the morning with good evidence it's hard to say no." Gus said glaring at Shawn.
Carlton glared as well. "You broke into his apartment!"
Shawn put his hands in the air in a mock surrender. "Hey, it's not breaking in if I find the key."
Carlton shifted his attention to Gus. "Are you still using a hide-a-way key in a rock on a second floor landing? Because if you do we've told you that's really ineffective."
"See dude, I told you!"
Just then a dog ran up with something red on its face. Gus jumped a mile yelling about it being blood while Shawn petted it saying it's just sausages.
"Lassiter!" Carlton left the debate and caught up with the chief, Lucinda, and Dobbson.
"Yes chief?"
"Looks like your brother isn't just talk after all."
"Well he is, he just knows he can back it up." Carlton smirked at Dobbson and the other rolled his eyes. The four walked in the small cabin to find a shock. On the ground was a body while in a chair was another holding a gun. At first glance it looked like he had shot himself but Carlton thought it looked suspicious. His line of thought was broken when Shawn came bouncing into the room talking.
"Wow it's just like I saw… it…" Then he looked down and saw the body on the ground and the other one in the chair. Carlton saw him scanning the whole room then looked up to the other four.
"Pardon me," Gus spoke up with his fake smile on. "Ladies, Gentlemen." He then turned around and ran out the door. After a beat there was a high pitch screaming and the chief jumped, doing a small double take at the door where Gus used to be. Had there not been two dead bodies on the floor a foot away Carlton would have laughed.
Later that day back at the station, Carlton was talking to Mr. McCouland in the conference room. Chief Vick came in and told Lucinda to go get rid of Shawn. After a couple of minutes of the two still talking, Dobbson just walked out and grabbed Shawn, forcing him to walk the other way. Carlton watched as the two fought quietly, it looked like Shawn had won because he walked off with Dobbson frozen, glaring at the spot where Shawn's head used to be. He then heard a yell.
"You're in over your head, mystic!" Carlton got up to let Lucinda take over and met Dobbson in the door way. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame.
"At least that mystic was able to find the cabin." He smirked.
"Shut up. I'm going to find out how the two of you are running this little con, and when I do you can say good bye to your job and hello to orange jump suits."
"We'll see about that." The Two had a mini stare down till they both had to go do their job.
Later on Carlton and Lucinda got away to go eat lunch.
"I thought you already ate?" Lucinda asked as they walked into a bar and grill.
"Started to, the rest of it was stolen by the black hole known as Shawn." The blond smiled. "What?" he stopped to ask noticing the look he was getting.
"Nothing I just think it's really sweet."
"That he stole my food?" Carlton kept walking.
"No, how close the two of you are."
Before he got the chance to respond he heard a voice he hadn't heard in awhile. "Shawn, it's just like everything else, three months from now you're going to be on a bus to Minneapolis because you found your calling as a weather man." He toned out Lucinda's confused look as he started to walk toward the voice but was shocked when she heard Shawn's voice in response.
"It's not like that this time, have you been listening to me? I finally found a way to use my special gift, you should be thrilled, you're the one who made us this way. I'm good at this, it may not be the way Carlton does it, but it's still solving crimes the way you taught us."
Carlton panicked when he heard this and tried to get Lucinda to leave but she had already heard it as well and shoved past him.
"I knew it." She said walking up to Shawn. He turned in surprise and saw the two detectives. Carlton sighed and pulled up a chair next to Shawn, laying his head on the table.
"Sorry, it was too late to turn back, she already heard." He muttered into his sleeve.
"Well, there was a shocking end to this story." Henry said as he went to stand up.
"Wait!" Shawn yelled. "Just wait a minute, ok."
Henry sighed and leaded back.
"Please, please, pleasssssssse, don't say anything, please." Shawn begged the detective. Carlton sat up and ran a shaky hand through his hair. There was a pause as they all waited for her response.
She took a deep breath then let it out before answering. "Fine." She said. "I won't say anything." The brothers released the breath they were holding and leaned on each other. "But on one condition." She spoke up again and the two sat straighter. "How do you do it? Both of you." She said looking right at Carlton. "For the past two years I've been working with you, I've seen you do stuff similar to Shawn." Lucinda took a seat on the other side of Shawn.
"Hey, I'm still here if you haven't noticed." Henry spoke up. "But if the whole reason you wanted to talk, Shawn, was because you needed help, the two of you need to figure it out yourselves. I don't want anything to do with this."
"There was no ransom drop."
"No, Shawn."
"Come on."Carlton spoke up too. "Just listen, please."
Henry took a breath. "Ok, no ransom drop, so what, big deal."
"They wait six days-"
"And make no demand." Shawn then Carlton spoke without missing a beat.
"It happens all the time, they try to create panic in the family, you should know this, both of you."
"Yeah, yeah but not this guy-" Shawn spoke.
"He was pressed for time-" Carlton took over.
"Wanted it done quickly." Shawn cut back in.
Lucinda watched in amazement when the two were thinking out loud. They were able to switch back and forth and stay on the same train of thought, as if they could read each other's thoughts.
"Well then, you guys missed something." He pointed at Shawn. "You've been driving your motor cycle all over the place, all across the country. And you-" He pointed at Carlton. "Have your nice easy job at the top, no need to work hard." The two rolled their eyes and looked away used to the lectures but perked up at the last thing he says "You guys are soft, but hey it happens."
"We are not soft, we're sharper than we've ever been." They both defended.
"Close your eyes." They both looked at him as if he'd spouted a second head then scoffed.
"No way. We are not little kids anymore."
"Any longer and I think you're cheating." The three had a stare down that the two younger ones lost because they finally closed their eyes. Lucinda looked at the three in confusion then Henry spoke up.
"How many hats are in the room?"
"Wha-" Lucinda started to say but was shushed by Henry. "You wanted to know how they do it, well here's a front row seat."
"Whatever, by the way we aren't counting the one in your pocket in case you wanted to pull a fast one on us." They started to take deep breaths as they leaned forward on the table holding their fingers to their temples. After a moment Shawn spoke first, each pointing to the one they were talking about.
"Nylon fishing cap on the loner in the corner."
Then Carlton spoke up pointing. "Foam cap on the kid who is too young to know they were lame the first time they came out."
Then Shawn again as they alternated. "Both truckers, one with a cement company I've never heard of, the other advertising free mustache rides. I'm fairly certain no one has taken him up on that offer." They both shuttered.
"Norwegian girl, pony tail pulled out the back. Unfortunately for Shawn, she's married."
"And our friendly bartender wearing the official hat of the restaurant." Shawn finished off.
"Six hats. By the way you can pick up your jaw off the floor, we've been doing this since we were kids." They said at the same time. Lucinda snapped her jaw closed and kept looking between the two with eyes wide in awe.
"And…?" Henry broke the moment.
"And?"
"What do you mean and?"
"Sorry boys, there were seven hats. I can't help you."
"We didn't miss anything." Shawn was calm now with no emotion in his voice. "Were, before we closed our eyes." They both had opened their eyes now. "Cowboy hat walked out when I was thinking about mustache rides." Lucinda and Henry both turned to look out the door as Carlton and Shawn did a little fist bump under the table in victory.
"Nice save on the cowboy hat, I didn't catch that." Carlton whisper.
"No prob." Henry then turned back around and Lucinda was wide eyed. "Come on, we heard the cowboy boots walk out."
"That was amazing! You guys have really been doing this since you were kids?" She was smiling at Carlton. Carlton smiled back and nodded but then shifted his attention back to his dad.
"Alright, close enough."
"Close enough? No, we nailed that." Shawn started talking. Carlton elbowed him in the side and whispered to him.
"Word of advice, when asking a favor you don't gloat." Shawn just ignored him and watched Henry.
"Hey, it's fine." He said getting his coat on. "You changed the rules, whatever makes you happy." He then tapped Shawn in the face with the bill and walked off. Both Carlton and Shawn looked at each other in confusion and jumped up after him, forgetting Lucinda who just followed after.
"What are you talking about?" Carlton asked.
"Yeah, cuz we nailed that."
"Shawn, just grow up, get a real job. Same with you Carlton, you have a nice job; don't screw it up with something that's going to last 8 weeks. And maybe you should be asking who you should trust and who you shouldn't because you guys are obviously over looking somebody. Thanks for lunch." He then shoved the bill at Shawn who grabbed it. "It was nice meeting you detective." He nodded at Lucinda then left without another word.
"So that's your guys' father? I'm just a little confused. Did he just lecture you or help you?"
"A bit of both." They were both staring off in space thinking. Shawn broke their train of thought as he realized something.
"What?"
"I just realized that dad gave me a ride here from his place."
"Your bike's at his place isn't it." Carlton stated.
"Yep." Shawn popped the p.
"Come on, I'll give you a ride after we eat." Carlton put a hand on Shawn's shoulder as the two walked to a table. Lucinda hanged back and Carlton noticed this so he stopped and turned back. "You coming?"
"Yeah, I just forgot my purse in the car." She pointed to the door.
"Oh, here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys, throwing them to her. "We'll be over there." He pointed to a table and she nodded. When she went out she noticed Henry leaning against an old truck with his arms crossed.
"You're still here Mr. Spencer?" She stopped to ask.
"Please, it's Henry. I'm just watching them." He gestured with his head to Shawn and Carlton through the window where they were talking. Shawn was making large body motions while Carlton was laughing.
"They're happy together. Every since Shawn's been here Carlton smiles more." Lucinda commented.
"Yeah," Henry said smiling. "You know, Carlton was adopted. When I was on the force I got a report of a domestic disturbance. My partner Roy and I were sent out and we found him. He had no other family so I took him in, it was that or a group home and you know how bad those can be." Henry took a breath then spoke again. "He was so quiet, only spoke one or two words to anyone. One day," He held up a finger. "One day after meeting Shawn and they were glued to the hip, you never saw one without the other, the Spencer Brothers they were known as." The two stood there another minute or so just watching, Carlton was shaking his head smiling while Shawn was nodding enough that he looked like a bobble head.
Later that evening Shawn and Gus were in Gus's office with the bag they stole from the thrift store.
"So somebody at that house did pay a ransom." Gus figured.
"Yeah, or tried to." Shawn nodded.
"Who?"
"I don't know, we're going to need mor-" Shawn was cut off when his cell phone started to ring. "'Ello." He answered then pulled the phone away from his ear when the person on the other line yelled.
"Seriously! What is wrong with you!" Shawn put the phone on speaker and set it on Gus's desk.
"Dude, Carly! Calm down, what are you talking about?"
"Oh, just that we just got a call from Carl's Thrift Store saying that one black and one white male just stole this bag from the store. Know anything about that?"
Shawn and Gus shared a look and Shawn scoffed before answering in a laughing tone.
"No, why would you think that?"
"Well he just said that they took it and drove off in a small blue car."
"Wow that's weird, but hey on the bright side, Gus you aren't the only one that drives that ridiculous car."
"Shawn I know it was you two, you're just lucky that I answered. Now, what'd you find about that bag?"
Shawn smiled. "So I have info that you want."
Carlton sighed "What do you want?"
"Only to, I don't know, see everything you have on Malcome Orso." Shawn was studying his nails.
There was silence on the other line and Shawn was about to give up when heard an exhale through the phone then a reluctant "Fine, but come meet me down here, I'm not doing something that can cost me my job over the phone."
"Sweet! Thanks bro, I owe you big time!"
"You owe me a lot." He commented then hung up.
"Come on dude." He motioned for Gus.
"No Shawn, I have to work." Gus sat down at his desk and went on the computer.
"Exactly, so let's get a move on." Shawn said completely missing what Gus is saying.
"My real paying job. I'm not going to quit psych." He reassured the hyperactive adult. "I just can't leave now. Sorry Shawn."
"Whatever, but jerk chickens on you tonight."
"Got it and good luck!" He called as he left.
When he got to the station, he was greeted by Carlton right away at the door.
"Hey, so what you got on-"
Carlton cut him off and talked in hushed tones. "Not here, come on." The older man let him to the gun range down stairs. Only one person was down there shooting and that was Lucinda.
"Detective." Shawn greeted when she stopped shooting.
"Shawn." She nodded and reloaded her weapon. Taking aim she fired the whole round then turned around, taking off the goggles and ear plugs.
"Nice Shooting." Shawn commented. "I did better when I was 14 but still at least you can hit the target." Lassiter punched Shawn in the arm. "That's better than him the first time dad took us shooting," He pointed to Carlton. "Every shot missed, even the one that was 5 yards away." He hit him again while Lucinda smiled.
"Do you want this info or not?" Carlton snapped.
"Fine."
"Wait." Lucinda spoke up.
"Yes?" Shawn asked while Carlton growled about Shawn not being able to focus for more than 2 seconds.
"You say you can shoot better, let's see."
"No." The other detective said.
"No, no it's cool Carly. This will only take a second." Shawn waved him off.
"Not you, you," He gestured to Lucinda. "Right now all you're doing is stroking his ego. The only reason he's down here is to see some info on this one guy."
"So he can have a 'psychic vision' later?"
"Hey, no need for the air quotes."Shawn protested but everyone ignored him.
"Come on Carlton it will only take a couple of minutes." She pleaded.
Carlton sighed and looked between the two. "Fine."
"Yes!" Shawn jumped.
"But," he pointed to Shawn. "Make it quick, and please don't be too much of a show off."
"Yes, sir!" Shawn mock saluted while Carlton rolled his eyes. He then walked over to her booth and put on a pair of goggles and ear plugs.
"You need a new target sheet." She pointed out when he picked up the gun.
"Nah, why waist a tree? You hold it like this right?"
"Just hurry up!" Carlton got tired of waiting
"Ok, Ok calm down." Shawn held the gun steady and shot the whole round real quickly.
"Gees, can you go a little faster? It helps to blink sometime in the middle of the round then you might hit the target."
"Just bring it in." he said casually.
"I told you not to show off."
"Correction, you said not to show off too much. You never said I couldn't show off at all." Their conversation was cut off by a gasp and the two looked at the female detective. She was looking at the target which Shawn matched every one of her shots.
"Damn…" she breathed then studied Shawn.
The next day Carlton was working when the Chief stormed over to his desk.
"Lassiter." Oh no she sounded angry. "Come on, we just got a call from McCouland saying that a psychic that works for us won't leave."
Carlton groaned when he got up. "Damn it Shawn." He muttered.
When they all got there the chief ordered Dobbson and Lucinda to cuff them and take them to the station. They were all walking out, Vick talking to Mr. McCouland.
"As you can see Karen, this simply cannot happen."
"Don't worry, it will be taken care of." She glared at Lassiter. "You are going to be suspended so long starting now, that you cannot even comprehend it."
"Yes, ma'am." Carlton nodded.
Dobbson was smirking behind them as he got to lead Shawn away in cuffs.
"This is probably one of the best days of my life, getting to see you in cuffs and Lassiter being punished."
Shawn tried to suppressed a grin but couldn't help saying. "Dude, that's sooo what she said."
"Shawn, you need to shut up right now." Carlton said without looking back.
"Shawn anytime would be nice." Gus said.
"He's getting cocky, just give it a sec."
"We're going to be in the city jail in a sec."
The two detectives let them to the car and was about to shove them in. Dobbson 'accidently' hit Shawn's head on the roof of the car and Gus gave him a 'hurry your ass up and say it look'.
"Oh, boy!" he yelled and started to shake violently.
"Gus, Carly something's happening!" He got everyone's attention as all conversations stopped and watched as he fell on the grass.
"The dog!"
"Shut up." Dobbson strolled to where Shawn was flailing on the ground.
"He's biting the intruder! He knows him, it's someone he knows, the dog knows him!"
"Stop talking." Dobbson growled.
"The teeth, they're digging in."
"Lassiter, get your idiot brother to shut up!" Dobbson tried a different approach.
"I don't control him, that's your job. You're the arresting officer, plus I'm suspended." Dobbson flared his nostrils and picked him up, literally.
"AAAAAHHH AAAAHHH AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! It's him! It's McCouland! I can see his face! The killer is McCouland! Check his wrist! Check his wrist! The right wrist, check for teeth marks on it!"
McCouland finally had enough. "Get him out of here!"
"CHECK THE WRIST! Come on Carlton, just check his wrist!"
"No one is checking any part of me!"
"Why not?" the chief spoke up.
Everyone froze and looked up at her.
"We can close this immediately, discredit him right here. It's an awful wound you got there."
"This is outrageous! Do you really want to do this?"
"Like she said, why not?" Carlton tried not to smirk.
"And you!" He pointed at him. "Karen I want him fired this instant! He was the one that vouched for this guy!"
"If Mr. Spencer here is wrong then I'll even arrest him. So why don't you show me your wrist." Vick said coolly. McCouland bit his lip and glanced around cornered. "Or I can call in a warrant." She crossed her arms.
"I want my lawyer."
"And I'll be waiting right here."
"I see a doctor!" Shawn yelled. "A doctor, Doctor Vindolly! And,and,and a word consimine! It's for dog bites! The wound is fresh, check the wound!" Shawn was fighting Dobbson the whole time as he was trying to push Shawn in the car. "It's still a fresh wound."
Everyone glanced at each other then McCouland turned around. "It was an accident, I didn't,"
Dobbson loosened his grip. "You mean…?" Gus and Carlton were smiling now.
"Sergeant." She called over one of the officers. "By the way," She spoke to Carlton. "You are no longer on suspension. Just keep a close eye on him."
"Got it." Two sergeants led McCouland away along with the chief.
"You want to get these cuffs off me now." Gus spoke up. Lucinda wordlessly uncuffed him and he walked over to join Shawn, Carlton and Dobbson.
"Really, how did you do that?"
"I wish I knew." Dobbson rolled his eyes and walked away leaving Shawn with Gus and Carlton who leaned against the car on either side of him.
"If you ever do that again, I will shoot you without hesitating." Carlton said first.
"Noted. By the way, you think Catharine will still wanna go out?" They both looked at him and rolled their eyes and went to walk away.
"Hey dude, are you going to uncuff me now? Carly? Carly? Come on man this is no way to treat you're big brother! Please! Get back here!"
Back at the station Carlton saw his dad walk out but shrugged it off. A minute later Shawn ran out of the chief's office and went straight to his desk. He threw a file on the desk and beckoned for him to follow. Sighing he got back up and ran after him. Outside they ran up to Henry as he opened the door to his truck.
He turned around facing them. "So are you guys going to continue this little charade?"
The two looked at each other then shrugged. "Well it adds a little more charm, and I get to work cases for the department and privet ones. Plus I get to work with Carly here." He jabbed his thumb at Carlton.
"And I get to keep tabs on him. It's easier than having to call stations around the country."
"I just hope you guys know what you're getting into. And be aware, this is the last time I cover for the two of you." He got in the old truck and they walked up to the window. "I'm not ok with this Shawn, any of it." The two hid a smirk when they noticed the newspaper clipping of Shawn. The two shared a look and Shawn was the one that spoke for them.
"We don't expect you to be dad."
When he drove away, Shawn grabbed Carlton's arm and dragged him to Gus's car. "Come on, I gotta show you something."
"I can't leave now Shawn, I have work." He tried to pull away but Shawn had a strong grip on him.
"Yes you can, I cleared it with the chief before I left her office." Carlton rolled his eyes and got in the back while Shawn got in the driver's seat. Gus looked back from the passenger's seat.
"He dragging you along too?" Carlton nodded. Twenty minutes later Shawn parked and got out, making a large gesture with his arms.
"Awesome!" Carlton and Gus looked at each other and Gus spoke up.
"Psych? As in got'cha?" They followed to the door and he clarified before unlocking it.
"Or, as in psychic."
They walked in and Gus kept talking. "You named your fake detective agency psych? Why not just call it 'hey we're fooling you and the Santa Barbra police department. Hope someone doesn't die because of it'?"
"Really Shawn this is going too far." Carlton finally found his voice.
"Firstly to you Gus, that name would never fit on the window. And secondly to both of you worry warts, what better way to trick someone into believing you're not lying to them is to tell them you are!" He spun around and sat behind the desk.
"Whatever Shawn, it's your agency."
"Yeah have fun with this."
"Actually, it's all three of our agency. I signed your guys' names on the lease too. Is this close to both of your signatures'?" Shawn opened a file on the desk and showed it to them. Their eyes went wide and they glared at Shawn who was grinning.
"Is this a joke!" They both yelled.
"Don't worry; you guys don't have to do a thing. I worked out every little detail."
They looked at each other and started to grill Shawn.
"What's your dental plan?" Gus questioned.
"I don't get Cavities." Shawn shot back.
"Health plan?" Carlton threw out there.
"Same, but with hepatitis and shingles."
"So you want me to quit my job, skip over and work for no guaranteed money?"
"I'm not leaving the station." Carlton stated.
"No guaranteed money but all guaranteed fun. Plus you don't even have to come in that often anyway Carly, cuz we need someone working on the inside at the station to get us cases and files we wouldn't be able to see."
"No! No more cases Shawn. It was fun for a few days." Gus said firmly and turned around.
"Well it's going to have to be fun for a minimal of six months or we're going to have to pay a lease penalty which would be a blemish on your otherwise very impressive credit report."
"I don't really see anything wrong with it." Carlton offered looking up.
"Are you two insane?"
"Possibly." They spoke together.
"One mystery and you two think it's just going to be smooth sailing. Did you forget that he almost got you fired today and thrown in jail?"
"True, but it did get the case solved which without him McCouland would still be sitting at home scot free."
"Well, how do you even know that we'll be getting a new case?"
"Because the chief just gave me one."
Gus smiled a little. "We got another case already?"
"A car thief got poisoned by his boss." Carlton informed him.
"He used something over the counter. Fffizdin no ffffffizaderpal no uh…" Shawn struggled.
"Fizidrin?" Gus took a stab.
"That's it!" Shawn pointed.
"Wow, how'd he do that?"
"We'll tell you on the way."
When they got outside Gus paused. "Just for today right?"
"Absolutely."
"Of course."
The three got in and drove off talking more about the case.