Disclaimer: See first chapter!

Author's Notes: Well here we are at Chapter Four! I hope everyone is enjoying it thus far. There is slight Gus/Juliet in this chapter, at least in my mind here is. But like I said it is slight... very slight. Anyway, Thanks again for all of the wonderful feedback! You guys are the best readers and reviewers a girl could as for. So thanks!

Enojy!


Chapter Four

Gus fidgeted nervously as he waited for Juliet and Lassiter. It felt like it was taking forever for the detectives to arrive. Time seemed to have slowed and just left him standing there frozen, waiting.

He relaxed a fraction when the Crown Vic pulled up. Juliet was out of the car and by Gus' side in an instant. She wrapped her arms around him in a caring embrace.

"How are you doing, Gus?" Juliet asked sweetly.

"I'm okay, Juliet," Gus assured her. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course! I'll do everything I can to help." She smiled. Juliet looked over her shoulder when she heard the driver side door shut. Leaning forward she whispered, "I'm surprised you called Lassiter before me though."

"Uh... Well, I didn't know if you were off tonight or not and I figured... Lassiter's always on the job, right?" Gus asked.

"You're right, that's Lassiter for you."

Carlton ignored Gus and Juliet as he took a look at the outside of Psych. If it hadn't been for Gus' call and both Gus and Juliet being less than five feet away, he could almost trick himself into believing that he was just picking Shawn up for a date.

But he wasn't here to pick Shawn up. He was here to figure out what had happened to him.

"O'Hara! If you're done," Carlton called out in his 'Get your ass back to work' tone. "Let's get to work."

Carlton walked to the office door and gestured for Gus to open it. Once open, he walked carefully into the office and pulled out a penlight and shined it over the contents of the rooms. O'Hara was to his right, checking out the foyer for any signs of forced entry.

He was just looking over Shawn's desk and all the knick knacks his lover kept on it, when the overhead lights came on. Carlton looked up and glared at Gus whose fingers still lingered on the light switch. "Guster, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Turning on the lights? I've never understood why cops don't just turn on the lights when investigating a crime scene," Gus stated.

"Just stay out of the way, Guster," Carlton growled as he flicked off his penlight. "And don't touch anything," he added as he saw Gus move to the little kitchenette and went to grab a glass.

The two detectives searched the room for anything that could explain Shawn's disappearance. But nothing was out of place, taken or missing, except for the psychic who usually dwelled in the office.

"There's nothing here, Carlton," Juliet stated dejectedly. "There's nothing more we can do without some sort of evidence," she said softly as she turned to Gus. "I'm sorry, Gus. We won't be able to do anything more until Shawn's been missing for two days."

"I understand, Juliet," Gus said solemnly.

Carlton sighed. Juliet was right; there was nothing else they could do. There were no signs of foul play and without anything to go on, they would have to wait and hope nothing happened to Shawn. Carlton walked to the door, Juliet and Gus ahead of him and he had just passed behind Shawn's desk when something caught his eye.

"Hold up, O'Hara," Carlton called. "I think I've found something."

He walked closer to what had caught his eye. Kneeling down to get a closer look, he pushed the swivel chair aside and he paled when he realised what it was. Blood... Dried but all the same, it was blood.

"Oh, no," Juliet gasped from beside Carlton.

"What? What is it?" Gus asked worriedly.

"Take him outside. I'm going to call the chief and get some CSIs out to look the place over," Carlton told Juliet.

"Right."

She stood up, patted Carlton on the shoulder and moved to usher Gus out of the office. He waited until they were out of earshot before pulling out his cell phone and called the Chief.

"Vick."

"Chief, it's Lassiter."

"What can I do for you, Detective? I thought you had requested the night off?"

Carlton winced as he remembered why he'd wanted the night off. It was supposed to be just him and Shawn tonight. But that wasn't going to happen now. Not until he had Shawn back.

"Yes, Chief, I did. But there's been an abduction and I need some CSIs down here to find and collect some evidence," Carlton stated professionally.

"Alright, Detective. Where's the scene?"

"The Psych Office."

"Detective?"

Carlton could hear the Chief's confusion and curiosity as well as if she was standing right beside him. "It's Spencer, Chief," Carlton replied. "Someone's taken him."

Silence fell over the phone for a moment. "How do you know?"

"According to Mister Guster, Spencer's been missing since roughly two o'clock this afternoon and no one had seen or heard from him since. His bike is still parked outside of Psych and there is dried blood by his desk," Carlton reported.

"I'll send over some black and whites along with the CSIs. Have you informed Henry?"

Carlton sighed. He was not looking forward to that. "No, not yet."

"Get on that Detective.

"Yes, Chief."

"Alright. Good luck, Detective. Make sure you find him."

"Don't worry Chief. I will."

Carlton hung up and left the office. He met Juliet and Gus outside and explained that he got the Chief to spend out some CSIs.

"So... You found something?" Gus asked hopefully.

"Yes, we did."

"What was it? A fingerprint? Hair? A footprint? What?"

"We found blood, Gus," Juliet said while placing a comforting hand on Gus' arm.

"Oh... God!"

"Calm down, Guster. It was only a small amount. We'll get a sample and see if it's even Shawn's. It could be his kidnapper's. It's nothing to – "

Carlton was cut off by a fist connecting with his jaw. "You uncaring bastard," Gus screamed.

"Gus," Juliet yelled as she restrained the distraught man.

Carlton seemed unfazed by the blow dealt to his face. He simply wiped away the small trickle of blood from his newly split lip. His calm demeanour just seemed to piss Gus off more.

"Let go of me! He doesn't even care that my best friend is missing and for all we know, Shawn could be dead," Gus raved. "Yet, here he is saying that 'it's nothing to worry about!' Shawn's out there somewhere and he needs our help, your help... his lover's help!"

Juliet could only stare in shock. The way in which Gus had spoken almost made it sound like Carlton was Shawn's lover. That couldn't be true, could it?

"Lassiter?"

Carlton ignored her and instead he looked pointedly at Gus. "I know you're upset, Guster, but I – "

"Upset?! You have no idea what I'm feeling! I can't believe Shawn could love you! You're an uncaring, robotic bastard. He'd do anything for you! Yet, here you are, doing nothing!"

Carlton flinched as Gus' comment about how Shawn could love him. Some days he couldn't figure it out either but Shawn did love him, he had said it the first they'd kissed and to hear his doubts verbalized by Gus – it pissed him off.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Carlton growled menacingly.

"Don't I?" Gus sneered as he shrugged out of Juliet's hold. "You're probably just pissed that I figured out what you were really doing with Shawn. You're just leading him on so that you can have your own fuck to – "

This time it was Gus who was cut off and not by a punch to the jaw but by a sharp, painful slap. Gus turned wide eyes to stare at Juliet. "Jul – "

"Shut up," she yelled angrily at Gus. "How dare you talk to Carlton like that and say such a horrible thing about your best friend!"

"But... H-he..."

"No! You had no right! Carlton is trying to remain focused on finding Shawn."

"B-b-but," Gus tried once more. "He didn't even flinch when he talked about the blood."

"That's because there wasn't much of it," Juliet defended. "That could mean a lot of different possibilities. Most likely it is Shawn's but such a small amount means it's more than likely a small wound. It could even be his kidnapper's and we could be one step closer to finding Shawn!"

Gus looked sheepish and rightfully so. Carlton was shocked speechless by Juliet defending him. He'd always thought the Junior Detective had feelings for Shawn but she seemed perfectly fine with Gus just outing his and Shawn's relationship.

Gus straightened his shoulders and looked timidly but bravely at Carlton. "I'm... I'm sorry... I just... How can you be so calm?"

"I'm not," Carlton said honestly. He didn't need Gus' apology since he knew the younger man had just been overcome by fear and anger. "But, I have to remain calm, so that my complete and all consuming fear, anger and heartache doesn't lead to me doing something that could jeopardize any evidence that could lead to finding Shawn or outing mine and Shawn's relationship."

"S-sorry about that as well," Gus said softly. "I didn't mean any of it."

"I know. You should go home. We're going to be here for a while. Get some rest," Carlton suggested, though it was more of an order.

"But... Shawn – "

"You'll be of no use to him if you're exhausted," Juliet interrupted.

"Okay," Gus sighed and he allowed Juliet to lead him to his car. Before he got in though, he called out, "Lassiter?"

"Yeah?"

"Bring him home."

"Don't worry, Gus, I'll bring Shawn home. No matter what," Carlton assured him.

Gus nodded and got in his car and drove off. Carlton watched him go before slumping onto the bench right in front of Psych. He put his head in his hands and sighed. How did his plans of spending a quiet night with Shawn end up like this?

He heard Juliet come to stand at his side, the soft clicks of her heels oddly comforting. Carlton pulled himself back together and met her eyes. "Yes, O'Hara?"

"You do know that you're giving me all the juicy details, right?" She told him sweetly.

He could only shake his head, a small smile playing on his lips. Of course she'd want all the little details about his and Shawn's relationship, from the beginning to now.

The black and whites were just arriving on scene, along with the CSIs. "I guess I can fill you in while we wait..."

TBC