Hello everyone. This is the filler chapter that I wrote and forgot to put in. I am so sorry about that again. If you're coming back to re read this part that I left out, thank you, if this is you're first time reading this fic and you're not interested in hearing about how unorganized I am, then please continue about your day! Thank you.

I dont really know if its filler, I mean it does serve a purpose. It's bringing Mary and Lassie closer together.


Lassiter kicked open the door to his house with much difficulty. He stuffed his keys into pockets and struggled into his home, the forty pound sleeping child in his arms making the entire endeavor an extremely difficult ordeal. Carlton stumbled over to his couch and dropped his burden right in the middle of it. Letting out an exasperated groan the head detective stretched, sighing when his back cracked loudly. He stared at Mary for a few seconds. The little girl looked to be sleeping peacefully and so Carlton made his way to the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and leaned against a counter. He ran a hand through his thinning hair and frowned slightly. A plethora of emotions were swirling inside his chest making it hard to breath. The fact that Shawn had been shot and not Mary made him feel guilty, only because he was relived it had been Shawn and not Mary that had taken the bullet. Then there was the Anger. Anger at himself for caring about Mary, Anger for not being able to stop Shawn from being shot, anger at Shawn for not telling him everything about this case, anger at the shooter, and more anger at himself for not being able to solve the case as quickly as Spencer claimed to of done. Carlton still had no idea what was going on, and with that thought he pushed off from the counter and walked over to his liquor cabinet. He pulled out a bottle of rarely used brandy and poured himself a drink. He set the cup down on his kitchen table and stared at the amber liquid morosely. A voice that sounded suspiciously like O'Hara's echoed through his mind quietly.

"Should you really be drinking while you're taking care of a toddler?" It asked. Carlton sighed, picked up the glass and dumped its contents down the sink. He put away the bottle and looked up at a clock.

"Eleven o' clock?" He mumbled to himself, feeling slightly shocked by the time. It felt like it was much much later than that. It felt like he hadn't slept in days. Heading out of the kitchen Carlton walked back into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks when he realized that something was missing. That something being a brown haired, pink clad, four or five year old little toddler.

"Mary… Mary?!" Carlton scanned the living room and saw nothing but emptiness. "Shit!" The head detective swore loudly and ran down the hallway to the bathroom. He leaned inside and saw nothing out of place. Turning on his heel continued to search, feeling slightly panicked. He rushed into his own room and instantly let out a shaky breath. Mary was there, she was attempting to climb up onto his bed using his blankets. Carlton walked up behind her and put his hands on his hips. The little girl continued to try and pull herself up onto the bed, oblivious to the detective standing behind her.

"There you are!" Carlton exclaimed taking a deep breath to calm his frantically beating heart. Mary jumped at the sound of his voice and let go of the blankets she had been attempting to scale. Landing on the ground clumsily she turned around and held her hands up in the air, indicating she wanted to be picked up.

"What are you doing in here?" Carlton asked eyeing her with suspicion. Mary frowned at him and lifted her arms higher, her hands opening and closing.

"Up!" She instructed him. Carlton scoffed at her.

"Not until you tell me why you think it's okay to go running around in another person's house. I thought you had been kidnapped by a blood thirsty murder. You could have been the next homicide I had to investigate tomorrow. Instead though, I find you in my room trying to get on my bed. Now explain yourself." Carlton folded his arms over his chest and glared down at Mary.

"I go to asleep now!" Mary informed him, a smile splitting her face in two. Carlton's frown intensified at her response.

"You're in trouble! You shouldn't be smiling." He paused as a sudden thought occurred to him. "Besides this is my bed. Not yours. You get to sleep on the couch." He pointed a finger out his bedroom door to illustrate his point. Mary stared at him and then giggled happily.

"Mine!" She yelled smacking the bed with her hand. Before Carlton had a chance to reply she ran towards the door and out into the hallway. Carlton rolled his eyes and followed her into the living room. Mary was standing in front of the couch.

"You." She said smacking the couch with a nod of her head. Running past Carlton, Mary jogged down the hallway as fast as her little legs would carry her. Carlton rolled his eyes again and followed her back into his room. He strode inside his room and watched as she smacked the bed and yelled,

"Mine!" Before darting forward again. Before she had a chance to rush past him and out the door, Carlton reached out for her and wrapped an arm around her stomach. He lifted her off the ground with one arm and adjusted her weight so he could carry her.

"All right, all right I get it. You want to sleep on the bed." He grumbled though slightly amused. Carlton walked over to the bed and set Mary onto it. The little girl laughed and rolled around on the bed energetically. He grabbed a chair that was leaning against the wall next to his night stand and sat in it with a sigh.

"Be careful!" Carlton gasped suddenly, watching the little girl roll dangerously close to the edge. She stopped rolling just before she hit the edge and stared up at the ceiling. After a few seconds of silence she mumbled something just below Carlton's threshold of hearing.

"What did you say?" He asked her, watching her stand up.

"Jump! Jump! Jump!" She yelled bouncing on the bed with each yell. Carlton stood up angrily.

"Stop that!" He yelled. Mary ignored him and continued to bounce on the bed happily. "I ORDER you to cease and desist immediately!" The little girl kicked her legs out in front of her and landed on the bed in a sitting position. Carlton's arms crossed over his chest in suspicion, he wasn't fool enough to assume that his shout had been what had caused Mary's sudden obedience. Rather the detective assumed that the little toddler had tired of bouncing. Mary proved the head detective's assumption correct when she sat up on her knees and leaned forward as if getting ready to perform a summersault.

"Maaary…." Carlton's voice was low and full of warning. He drew out the A and used his most authoritative voice, hoping it would be enough to deter whatever Mary was planning on doing next. The little girl paused long enough to look over at him before she put her head down on the bed, getting ready to do a flip.

"Don't." Carlton stared into her smiling face. Mary stared back at him; she waited a few seconds, as if making sure Carlton was watching, and then flipped. She landed on her back clumsily and bounced slightly, her feet dangling off the bed. Carlton watched her with apprehension. She lay quietly for a few moments and the head detective began to vainly hope that her energy had been depleted. He was disappointed when she began to roll on the bed again.

"Where in the name of sweet justice did all this energy come from?!" Carlton yelled in exasperation. Reaching out he grabbed her foot and drug the little girl towards him. She screeched happily as she was dragged across the bed. Carlton pulled her off the bed and held her in the air so that she was eye level with him. "Do you need to use the bathroom?" grasping at straws, Carlton hoped that all this hyperactivity was steaming from the fact that Mary just needed to use the toilet. Or something. Mary's legs swung back and forth as she hummed and tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

"Mary!" Carlton yelled, gaining the girls attention. Mary's legs stopped swinging and she looked at Carlton blankly. Quickly, before he lost her attention, he asked,

"Do you need to potty?" The room was quiet for a few moments as Mary contemplated what Carlton had just asked her. Or that's what it looked like she was doing anyway. For all Carlton knew the little girl was thinking about dolphins. Finally after much too much thought she responded.

"Yes." Carlton nodded his head and set her down on the ground.

"Now you just follow me." He paused and watched her stare at him blankly. "You. Follow. ME." He said enunciating each word loudly. Mary giggled which Carlton took as understanding on her part. Sighing he walked towards the door and headed down the hallway to where the bathroom was. Gulping loudly he stared at the door.

"O-okay." He was about to turn and ask Mary if she knew what she was doing when the little girl sauntered past him and into the bathroom.

"Pardon me." She said haughtily. Carlton raised a curios eye brow at her and watched as she pushed the door closed. Shaking his head Carlton leaned against the wall and waited for Mary to finish her business. After he helped her wash her hands he followed her into the bedroom and helped her back onto the bed hoping that she was now ready for sleep.

"All right. Are you ready for umm…sleepy time?" Carlton asked trying to switch up his vocabulary so that Mary could understand him better. Mary buried her head in the pillow and shook it.

"No sleep!" She yelled, peaking at him with one eye.

"Well we can't stay up all night. You have to go to sleep eventually." Carlton informed her as he sat down. Mary pushed herself off the pillow and sat on her knees.

"Story!" She exclaimed clapping her hands together. Carlton sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"No stories. Bed time." He leaned forward, "bed time!" he repeated loudly. Mary leaned forward and placed a hand over his mouth and nose.

"Story." She whispered and then flopped backwards onto the bed. Carlton sighed and leaned back in his chair once again.

"Fine. Once upon a time there was a-"

"Princess!" Mary exclaimed, interrupting Carlton. Carlton rolled his eyes.

"All right fine. Once upon a time there was a princess that wouldn't go to sleep." The head detective frowned as he tried to come up with a good story. "One day a wicked umm…" Carlton paused and tried to come up with something entertaining to say. "Dragon…came and cast a spell on her. Then she turned into a… frog. Then a knight from a palace came to investigate this crime. He caught the dragon, booked him, and put him in prison. The end." Carlton glanced over at Mary to judge her reaction to his fantastic story. The little girls face was an unreadable mask until finally she jumped up and yelled,

"I'm a dragon!" She began to bounce around on the bed once more, this time making dragon noises. Carlton jumped up as well and pulled at his hair in frustration.

"Why won't you sleep!?" the head detective yelled storming out of the room.


Juliet sat next to Henry and Gus in Shawn's room. It had taken a lot of negotiating, and by negotiating Juliet meant yelling, from Mr. Spencer but the ex-cop had gotten the doctor to agree to let all three of them sit in Shawn's room. It had been another three hours and all though they all knew that Shawn wasn't about to wake up, none of them could bring themselves to leave. The doctor had ordered that all three of them refrain from talking but every now and then they would break out and talk about how stubborn Shawn was and about how he was going to be okay. It was during one of these quiet conversations that Juliet's phone rang. Reaching into her pocket Juliet dug out the phone. It was Lassiter.

"Weird." Juliet mumbled.

"What's weird?" Gus asked looking over at Juliet. The junior detective bit her lip.

"It's weird that Carlton's calling me at one in the morning." She explained, second guessing her decision to let Carlton take Mary home with him. What If he really couldn't take care of the four year old? Flipping open the phone Juliet answered quietly.

"Hello?" She asked feeling slightly worried.

"You have to help me." Carlton's voice sounded strained and desperate.

"Why? What's wrong? Did something happen to Mary?" Juliet asked forgetting to keep her voice down.

"She won't sleep…" Carlton hissed into the phone. Juliet let out a small breath of relief.

"Oh..." she mumbled. "That's all." She smiled and leaned back in her chair.

"What do you mean is that all?" Carlton snapped, his voice sounding just as loud and intimidating over the phone as it did in real life. "I have been trying to get her to sleep since eleven o'clock! First she took over my room, then she ran around my house, then she had to use the bathroom, then she demanded I tell her a story and now she is jumping all over my bed! She is going to fall and break her legs O'Hara! I knew this was a terrible idea! I just knew it! I don't even know where she got all this energy. She was asleep one moment and then bouncing off the walls the next…" Carlton stopped ranting and fell silent on the other end. Juliet could faintly hear Mary yelling in the background. She was saying something about being a dragon.

"Are you done?" Juliet asked.

"Yes." Carlton responded.

"Do you feel better?" Juliet crossed her legs and lowered her voice after remembering that she was supposed to be whispering.

"No." Carlton responded grumpily. Juliet smiled slightly.

"Did you put her in some pajamas?" she asked listening to Mary make noise on the other end.

"No…" Carlton responded curtly. Juliet hummed quietly.

"Well, give her something to sleep in and see what happens. Call me if you need anything else." Juliet instructed and then hung up the phone.


Carlton pulled the phone away from his ear in disgust.

"Just put some pajamas on her? Like that's going to solve everything?" He grumbled angrily not believing that such a simple solution would be the answer. Shaking his head he made his way back into his room. Mary was playing under the covers and talking to herself. Her legs were sticking out of the blankets and she was kicking them up and down. Walking over to his dresser Carlton dug through his shirt drawer. He found the smallest shirt he owned and pulled it out. The shirt had been a birthday gift over five years ago and Carlton had never worn it. It was black and had huge white letters in the middle of it that read, 'Kick ass!'

"This is way too long…" Carlton mumbled to himself noticing the length. Mary would be tripping all over herself in it. Walking out of the room and into his kitchen Carlton searched for a pair of scissors. Finding a pair he cut the shirt just below the letters. Satisfied with his handiwork the head detective walked back into his room.

"Mary…" Carlton walked over to the bed and pulled the covers off of the little girl. She squeaked loudly and rolled over onto her back.

"Mine." She informed him, patting the bed. Carlton rolled his eyes irritably.

"Enough messing around. It's time for bed. Take that dress off and put this on." He instructed her, holding out the shirt so she could see it. "These are your pajamas." Carlton added. Mary sat up and started to pull the dress over her head. The dress was halfway off when it got stuck over her head. Mary whined loudly and sat still, waiting for assistance.

"For the love of…." Carlton reached over and helped her pull the dress over her head. Once off Mary fell backwards onto the bed and rolled towards the edge like a little monkey. "What are you-Mary! You're going to fall!" The head detective watched the little girl roll to the edge of the bed, stop, flip her legs over the side and fall to the ground. The room was silent after that.

"Mary?" Carlton asked walking around the bed to the other side. He got there just as Mary threw her poofy shorts to the ground and darted past him and out of the room. The only remaining article of clothing on her body was the Minnie Mouse underwear that Juliet had put her in. Carlton stared at the door and pulled out his phone, his face blank. It rang once, then twice and then on the third ring Juliet answered.

"Yes Carlton?" her voice was quiet.

"Your pajama idea didn't work." He informed her. There was a slight pause as the information was digested.

"What happened? What did you give her to wear?" Juliet asked her voice almost too low to hear.

"Nothing! Before I could give her the shirt, she stripped down and ran away." Carlton snapped heading for the hallway. He peeked his head out of the door frame and tried to spot Mary. Juliet's soft laugh danced through the phone, irritating Carlton.

"Well then you're going to have to catch her, dress her, and put her to sleep." Juliet informed him, poorly concealing the amusement in her voice. Carlton pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This isn't funny O'Hara!" He snapped, walking into the hallway cautiously. He suspected Mary was hiding somewhere because he couldn't hear her voice. There was no sound at all, there was absolute silence.

"It's kind of funny Carlton." Juliet quipped and Carlton could hear the smile in her voice.

"Whatever. I'll call you again when the pajama thing doesn't work." He hung up the phone and walked into the living room, his kick ass shirt in hand. Scanning the living room and looking for any open cabinets he called out, "Mary? Where are you?" A muffled giggle came from the kitchen, giving away Mary's position. Carlton tiptoed into his kitchen quietly hoping to catch Mary off guard with a surprise attack. He spotted her right away; the little girl was hiding under the table with her hands covering her eyes. Carlton frowned at her and walked over to the table.

"That is the worst hiding place ever." He informed her, as she uncovered her eyes and looked up at him. She crawled out from under the table and just as she started to stand up Carlton made his move. He lunged and pulled the shirt over Mary's head. The shirt was still a little long, going down to the little girl's ankles, but she was able to walk in it. Carlton put his hands on Mary's shoulders to stop her from pulling the shirt off and helped the little girl get her arms through the short sleeves. Finally fully dressed Carlton breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now it's bed time." He picked her up, not trusting her to walk by herself and carried her to his bed. Once there he pulled back the covers and set her in the middle of it. She moved to get up but Carlton pulled the blankets over her before she had the chance. Carlton then tucked the blankets in around Mary tightly so that she could hardly move. The head detective nodded in satisfaction and waited for the little girl to attempt defiance again. He would be ready for any insubordination she threw at him this time. Noticing his determination Mary finally gave up. The little girl leaned back into a pillow and Carlton witnessed the most beautiful sight he has seen all night, a yawn. Pulling her hand out of the blankets with some degree of difficulty Mary rubbed her eyes tiredly. She blinked a few times and then turned over onto her side. Suppressing a yawn himself Carlton headed for the door.

"If you need me I will be out there on the couch. Do not leave this bed until morning. Do you understand?" He asked eying the child suspiciously. He couldn't believe that she was really about to go to sleep. He suspected she was just trying to trick him into dropping his guard. Mary saluted him sloppily, her eyes drooping tiredly. Nodding his head Carlton turned off the light, walked out of his room and pulled the door closed, leaving it slightly ajar. He made his way to his couch and, fully clothed, fell onto it in a tired heap, asleep before his head even hit the pillow.