A/N: I do not own the characters, but I'm fairly proud of the plot, which is mine. Steve Franks and USA own Shawn, Gus, Lassiter, O'Hara, Henry, Vick, Santa Barbara, the Psych name, and, of course, the incomparable Buzz McNabb.

Set immediately after (and a little bit during) 3x11 (like I have to tell you that it's "Lassie Did a Bad, Bad Thing). So, there're spoilers for that. Rated for some language and some content.

Chapter 3: A Plan Most Awesome

or

The Name of the Game is Operation

Henry grinned. Gus was on board, and there was nothing that could stop them now that everyone was fully committed. Of course, he'd thought operations were unstoppable that crumbled to pieces with one bad turn, and anything related to Shawn was bound to have more than a few of those. Especially when I get involved, Henry thought bitterly. He shook his head. If this was going to work, and it had damned well better, he couldn't think like that.

Henry looked across the table to Gus and Juliet. Gus still looked uncomfortable, but it was fading fast, replaced by the sort of confidence Henry normally associated with Shawn. About damned time that kid rubbed off on somebody in a way that doesn't involve charges.

Juliet was smiling, optimistic, happy. Henry wondered at her perseverance, her spirit. He knew some of the things she'd seen, had been involved, however tangentially, with some of her cases. When he had been that far along in his career, he'd only seen the worst in everyone around him, seen the horror people were capable of. Henry hoped for her sake that the optimism held out, that she never lost that look of determined cheer.

Between Gus's newfound resolve and Juliet's longsuffering hope, they had a real shot at cracking this thing. But they were going to need a plan. "Okay, I think we're ready to hammer this thing out."

Gus looked over at him, an eyebrow raised in a way that reminded him too much of Shawn. "Okay," he said, drawing the word out, "but my question still stands: how?"

Henry grinned. This was the part he knew, the part he'd been doing since before Gus had been born. The cop in him started to push its way to the forefront as he glanced over the notes he'd made, the known facts of the situation. "There is one key to a successful operation, Gus: know your target. Between the three of us, we know more about those two than any other people in the world. Put together. Officers under cover spend years trying to get to a position we're already in. The rest is cake."

Gus frowned, but Henry could see Juliet nodding. She'd probably gotten that speech, or one like it, a hundred times during her training, during cover work. But Gus wasn't a cop, Henry reminded himself. Gus demonstrated his lack of familiarity with procedure only a moment later. "And what exactly is the rest?"

Henry had given the speech in briefings for the rookies a thousand times over the years, and it felt good to be using it one last time, using it on something as satisfying as his son's happiness. Noting the smile Juliet shot him, full of recognition and indulgence, Henry focused on Gus as he spoke. "Every good operation has three phases, three things that you have to do to get your target to do what you want. First, you plant an idea in your target's head. You bring it up in conversation, you mention it in passing, you have to avoid making it look too obvious. You can't try too hard, or they'll see right through you. The better they know you, the more careful you have to be."

Gus nodded. "So, for this…."

"Operation," Henry supplied. "It's Operation Romantically Challenged."

Gus gave Henry a look that had long ago been labeled the "Gus look" by Shawn. Henry had to agree with his son, the look couldn't be described any other way. "Seriously?"

Henry nodded. "It meets all the requirements of a good operation name: it's succinct, descriptive, and we can use acronyms around the target to keep them off track." Henry grinned as Juliet once more nodded in support. He was pulling all of this straight out of his ass, but it was nice to know he had backing. He just caught the sly smile she shot him as Gus looked up to the ceiling. "Oh, and it's completely accurate, or we'd all be off having a pleasant Saturday morning right now. I'd be fishing, you'd be off watching cartoons with Shawn, Juliet would be…off…."

Juliet grimaced. "I'd be doing paperwork with Lassiter all day. He's at the station now."

Gus frowned. "He's spending his Saturday at the station? That's sad."

Juliet jumped in to defend him. "You would be too if you were stuck in that awful motel room."

Something wasn't right about that, somehow. "Wait, motel room? I thought Lassiter was back home," Henry said, turning back to Juliet.

"No," Juliet told him, shaking her head. "His house is a crime scene. He has to be cleared by the CSIs once the scene has been processed. They didn't finish yesterday, and they don't work weekends for anything other than emergencies, so he's stuck there until Monday, at least. And that place is so depressing."

Henry filed the information away for later use, then returned to the topic at hand. "Any way, they need our help, and the operation name should reflect that."

Gus nodded. "Okay, how about Operation I Can't Believe I Agreed to This. Ooh, or what about this one? Operation: How is this the Best Thing I Have to Do on a Saturday? Operation: I Need a Life? Operation: Pathetic? Operation: Beauty and the Beast."

"I actually don't mind that last one," Juliet said thoughtfully.

Henry looked over at Gus appraisingly. "Operation: Pathetic was the closest you came, but I have to throw that one out since I'm almost positive you were talking about us instead of them. Gus, it's Romantically Challenged."

Gus sighed, looking back down again. "Okay, so for Operation Romantically Challenged, which I'd like to point out is more than a little offensive to our friends, to work, I start off by talking Lassiter up around Shawn. Easy enough. Well, sort of."

Henry shook his head, trying not to get too frustrated. "No, Gus, that's way too obvious, especially for Shawn. You're going to have to get Shawn thinking about Lassiter without having to mention him."

Gus nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, yeah, I can do that."

Henry grinned, returning to his speech. "Next, you have to present a problem that leads your target to the course of action you've already planted with them. This one is tricky; you have to make it look like an accident, but it has to be urgent enough to inspire immediate action. And you can't be afraid to get your hands a little dirty if that's what it takes. Finally, and this is especially important in our case, you fight your target on the action you want him to take. At this point, what you've planned is going to be inevitable, but you have to resist it, try to convince your target that it's a terrible idea."

Henry knew Gus would find fault with him on the last point, and Gus didn't disappoint. "Wait, how does that work? I'm gonna put all this time into trying to get Shawn to do something, only to tell him it's a bad idea and I don't want him to do it?"

Shaking his head, Henry chuckled. "You can't let them think that it's too easy, or they start to see through you. You convince a drug dealer that his only chance is to move his stash, then offer to help him? He's going to blow your head off. Convince him he has to move, then tell him how dangerous it is? He'll dig in even deeper and run off half-cocked to get picked up by the detail you have waiting outside." He could see that Gus was still skeptical. "Besides, when was the last time Shawn let something drop because you told him it was stupid or dangerous? Trying to convince Shawn not to do something is like a guarantee that it's going to happen." Henry could see Gus coming around. I knew I'd get him with that one. God knows Shawn's gotten me with it enough. "Trust me, I used to do this all the time. There are a million little things you have to do to push someone toward what you want them to do, but in the end it's all about the three P's: the plant, the problem and the protest."

"Sounds like a messed up children's book," Gus muttered.

Juliet frowned. "Hey, say what you will, but the system works. I worked a number of undercover cases with vice back in Miami, and this stuff is text book. It works every time, guaranteed."

Gus looked over at Juliet with a look that made Henry distinctly uncomfortable. "You were with vice, Juliet?"

She had the grace to blush under his stare, and Henry considered throwing one of his coffee mugs at Gus. In the end, though, he really couldn't sacrifice one of his good mugs. "The Miami force is a little smaller, and there are some…specific jobs that only…certain officers are qualified for. Every female officer is required to put in at least six months with the vice squad during their first two years on the force, then another three before they're eligible to make detective."

Henry was worried that Gus was about to say something inappropriate, but instead he settled on something stupid. "I gotta know, Juliet. Is it really still the 80s in Miami? Does everybody still have their sleeves pushed all the way up?" Juliet rolled her eyes, turning her head away from Gus to hide the smile breaking its way out across her face. Gus scowled like he hadn't expected the reaction he was getting. "What? Shawn would kill me if he ever found out I passed up a set-up like that!"

Henry snorted in derision. This was going to be harder than he had thought. "I already told you, nothing leaves this room. Now, we need a plan." Henry had a thought and looked over at the clock on the microwave. The morning was passing quickly, and they were going to have to act fast if this was going to work. "Okay, listen up." A plan was just beginning to take shape in Henry's mind, and he grinned almost predatorily. Maybe I'll go fishing today, after all.

Henry is up to something, and I totally want to know what it is. If you want to know too, tune in next time for the exciting implementation of…Operation: Romantically Challenged!