"O'Hara, we have some new information to discuss." Carlton announced, coming into the hotel room.
"I know." she confirmed, having a different source of information but being on the same page.
"What do you mean?" Carlton watched her, thinking she had just stayed put. She had staid in the hotel, but...
"I ran into someone at the pool, and"
"Spencer, right? I know those three are in town." Carlton figured who she meant.
"Um, yeah. How'd you know?" Juliet asked surprised.
"I saw my contacts I told you about. Henry Spencer and Pierre Despereaux." He purposely left out his run in with Dean Winchester. He had a chance to arrest him, but didn't act on it. He had a lot to process, and had three days to do it.
"Wait, you talked to Shawn's father, and the CEO of the Jimmy Stewart Foundation?" She looked at him with eyes wide, disbelieving who he talked to and without her, no less.
Carlton sat on the side of the empty bed and rested his chin in his hand. "This doesn't sit right, O'Hara. For the first time in my career, justice on the other side out ways the justice on the law's side." He sighed heavily before looking up at his partner, leaning on the doorway of the bedroom.
"Carlton, what are we doing? Please tell me that your information is going to put mine down." Juliet pleaded, the lines becoming so blurred.
"The robberies paid for stock that lead to forming the JSF. Henry Spencer was wounded on the job and his disability bounced, causing Shawn Spencer to rob his first bank?" Carlton summarized his day.
"Yeah, that's about what I got." She dropped onto the bed. "Urgh!" Juliet grunted, rubbing her hands down her face. "That's what I figured."
"You talked to Spencer and didn't arrest him?" Carlton watched her curiously.
"I don't, I don't know what I was thinking, partner." she admitted. "I guess I wanted to know why, more than I wanted him behind bars. And know I have this to wrestle with." Juliet fiddled nervously with her hands and bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Carlton."
"Don't apologize O'Hara." Carlton said, but his tone sounded pissed. "I got a little drunk last night and for some reason Winchester was bartending."
"You ran into Dean last night?" Juliet leaned forward and her eyes grew wide. "What did you do?"
"I pulled my gun on him and he bought us a round." Juliet would usually take this as Carlton being a dick, but his tone was all business. "He made us a proposition. We work together, or we keep chasing them." Carlton threw his arms up, his head battling his badge, and his head battling his hang over.
Juliet watched him expectantly and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Carlton, what do we do?"
"What to do when America's most wanted is America's most charitable." Carlton chuckled dryly at his own joke. "What can we do? We get an inside edge, or chase them to the ends of the country and back. But how can we let them just go? Do we trust them?" Carlton monologued aloud.
"I can trust them when their captivity isn't at stake. But how do we let them go. We can't just say 'Hey Director Vick, we're letting the Spencer-Winchester Gang go'."
"No, but we can PRETEND to go after them." Carlton's eyes raised. "I played cat and mouse for three years with them. We can play some more."
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"Despereaux my man! What is up..." Shawn's loud and happy tone dropped when two Federal agents stood in the office, casually talking with Despereaux.
"Ah, Shawn, Dean and Burton. Please, come in." Despereaux invited them in and Gus closed the door for good measure. "I believe you already know Special Agents Lassiter and O'Hara."
"We've seen them once or twice." Dean said, arms crossed.
"Gus hasn't though, not up close." Shawn threw in.
"Suck it Shawn." Gus threw back.
"Despereaux, why did you ask us to come if you knew cops were in your office?" Shawn pointed at the agents.
"Because Dean told me to." Despereaux pointed out slightly amused at Shawn's confusion.
"Winchester, we've come to a decision." Lassiter said pointedly.
"And?" Dean watched expectantly. "Are we going to war, or are we going to Geneva?"
"It's not that simple, Winchester." Lassiter turned to Shawn, who was completely out of the loop along with Gus.
"War or Geneva? Are we bargaining with them or something?" Shawn tried to figure.
"Something like that. I'll explain later." Dean turned back to his number one nuisance.
"We can't just let the three largest net worth criminals in the nation go." Carlton summed it up.
"We're going to have to play some games, guys. We're going to have to cooperate." Juliet explained in a better manner than Lassiter's brashness could have.
"What the Hell does that mean, Blondie?" Dean became harsh, feeling uneasy with freedom on the line.
"It means that we have to be careful in the way we work together."
Hearing Juliet say that made Shawn's heart jump for joy, and his face showed it. "Wait, so we're actually doing this? We're going Catch Me if You Can on this?"
"Yes, yes we are Spencer. We're going to have to create the illusion that we are in no way, positively involved." Lassiter informed the trio.
"You bitch!" Shawn spat at Juliet.
"Shawn, what the Hell!" Juliet seemed hurt at Shawn's quick attack.
"Oh! So just in public? Not right now." Juliet's nodding confirmed it. "Sorry Jules." Shawn lowered his chin to his chest and found the floor highly entertaining.
"We will travel separately and work separately." Lassiter ignored the awkward moment that had just passed.
"We will stay in touch via phone, and when necessary we may organize rendezvous." Juliet finished for him.
"Does this work for you three, or do we play cops and robbers tomorrow?" Lassiter asked, his demeanor never changing from the usual coldness.
"When's our first gig?" Dean shook the agents' outstretched hands in agreement, and almost shook Shawn's too. "Shawn, what the Hell?"
"I don't know man, just felt right in the moment. Me and Gus shook!" he pointed out as if it would change his mind.
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The boys packed their bags, getting ready to go God only knows where. "Hey Dean."
"What's up Shawn?" Dean asked, packing away a sawed off that he never used. Having it around just in case made in feel better, safer just in case. Cops weren't the only ones they had to worry about.
"What if we stayed here in Santa Barbara for a while. You know, let's stay around until they need us." Shawn suggested, shrugging his shoulder.
Dean just shrugged. "Sure, why not."
"As long as we stay low and out of trouble, I'm cool with staying put." Gus threw in his vote from the armchair. Gus was a heavy traveler, but scary efficient.
"What about Lassiter and O'Hara?" Dean asked, sitting on the bed. "We should follow them at a distance, you know? We have a new job, and they're keeping off our asses to do it." Dean explained.
"Dean's right, Shawn. We should stay close but out of sight. If they need us, we're not three days or more behind." Gus agreed with the flannel wearing man in the room.
"Okay, okay. I'll go talk to Juliet, but I'll be quiet about it."
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Juliet slowly ambled to the door of her hotel room after being awoken by a soft knocking. "Hello?"
Shawn smiled as he took in her white fluffy bathrobe and messy bed head, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Sorry to disturb you, Jules." Shawn quietly told her.
"It's 3:00 in the morning, Shawn." Juliet said quietly but a little upset. "How and why are you at my room?"
Shawn dug his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "You and Lassie said none of us are allowed to be seen together, so I thought 3:00 AM would work..."
Juliet rolled her eyes before grabbing his hand. "Get in here." She pulled him in and quickly looked both ways before closing the door behind her.
"You're room is so much nicer than mine, and I'm a millionaire." Shawn observed looking around the suite. "What's you're bathroom like?"
"What do you want, Shawn?" Juliet asked, losing her patience giving the time.
"Me and the guys were talking, and we have a game plan. It probably involves you talking to me more than you would like." Shawn warned her.
Juliet set up the tiny pot and got coffee going, finding two cups. "When did I say I didn't want to talk you?" Her blue eyes locked onto him like a tractor beam when she sat at the table and looked up at him with a soft smile.
Shawn smiled back before joining her at the small table. "We're going to tail you and Lassie at a safe distance, okay? We're going to be a few hours, two or three at most, behind you."
"Okay..." Juliet wasn't sure why they were going to be stalked by three of America's most famous criminals.
"We want to be there when you need us, not s few states away, you know?" Shawn got up himself when the coffee was done, bringing Juliet her cup filled as well.
"Thanks." Juliet took the ceramic cup that seemed too small to be called a mug.
Shawn sat back down and smiled politely. "As you said, we won't see you in public or during office hours. Hell, we won't even check out our crime scenes."
"Thank you Shawn." Juliet said earnestly. "Lassiter won't admit it, but..."
"It's okay Jules, you don't have to say anything." Shawn assured her. "I should be thanking you, Jules."
"Shawn, if I don't get to say anything then neither do you." Juliet quietly, playful and sweet.
The pair sat silent for a moment, but it wasn't awkward. It felt right somehow. "I'll let you go back to bed." Shawn stood up to leave, but Juliet's voice kept him there.
"I wasn't asleep, anyway. Jet lag is playing with me I guess." She played with the thick, wooly sleeves of her robe.
"Do you, do you want me to go?" Shawn motioned to the door but watched for her reaction.
"You can stay for a while, I guess. Unless you have something to do." Juliet smiled softly, her eyes telling him she really didn't mind.
"I can stay for just a little bit longer."
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Shawn woke up to his phone vibrating his jeans pocket. The call went to voicemail, then a text came in.
"Morning, sunshine." Juliet sat on the chair next to the love seat that Shawn had apparently fell asleep on.
Shawn shot up instantly, rubbing a hand through his sleep mussed hair. "Oh Hell, Jules I am so sorry! I didn't mean to." Shawn vegan to awkwardly ramble.
"It's okay, Shawn. You didn't do anything wrong, just fell asleep on my couch." She smiled playfully at him and took a sip of her coffee, and slid another cup forward.
Shawn got up and joined her, on the large chair. The chair wasn't as sized as the love seat, meaning Juliet and Shawn were fairly close.
"So uh, how's it going?" Juliet asked awkwardly, not too sure how she felt about the close proximity, especially considering just how little she was wearing under the robe.
"Pretty good, if you ask me." Shawn was just inches from her, soaking up every beautiful detail he could. Her warmth, her scent. "This isn't fair, you know."
"What isn't fair?" Juliet whispered, their faces coming closer together whether they knew it or not.
"That we can't have each other, even though we know we want it." Shawn whispered, their lips so near.
"Where did nervous and apologetic Shawn go?" Juliet whispered, her lips brushing his ear.
"He doesn't want to play." Shawn's breath ghosted over her skin, hot and soft. "Why is this a bad idea again, Juliet?"
"Because you're an escaped felon, and I'm supposed to be hunting you?" Juliet questioned, though she really knew the answer.
Shawn pulled back just a little, his thumb brushing her cheek. "We can keep more than one secret, right?"
His eyes were dark and his voice sounded predatory. "This isn't a good idea, Shawn. You said yourself that we can't have each other." Juliet's reasoning tried to break through the power of the moment Shawn had quickly created.
"Kiss me one time, and tell me it's not a good idea." Shawn was so close again, their noses brushing ever so softly.
"Shawn, please don". Juliet was stopped in mid plea by familiar lips covering hers. She moaned into it when fingers tangled in her hair, gently pulling it needingly. Her reason was thrown out the window, her tongue gently licking his lower lip to take the fight to Shawn.
Shawn was more than a little surprised when he felt Juliet take the lead with an explorative tongue. The kiss was broken only by the need for air, both participants gasping.
"Tell me we can't at least try." Shawn's voice came out, just about to crack. Tell me you don't want this."
It took Juliet a second to open her eyes and form words. "I'm sorry Shawn." Her own voice was just above a whisper.
Shawn looked down at the ground and nodded. "Okay. Yeah. We'll just, plutonic or something, right.?" Shawn tried to pick himself up after what felt like the hardest rejection of his life.
"I'm sorry." Juliet held his hand and stroked it soothingly.
They both jumped when a hard knock landed on the door, followed by a rapid onslaught of more thunder. "O'Hara, you in there?"