AUTHOR'S NOTES: I wish I could have gotten this out sooner, but writing two stories and not publishing one yet leaves a lot of gaps between chapters. :(
When I get the other one out, soon I promise, I hope it will be a good enough apology for the wait.
Chapter 7- The Show Must Go On
REAL:
The next day Shawn had to practically peel his head off the keyboard. It was such a regular occurrence for him to fall asleep after a night of cramming, he almost thought he was back home. The smell of fresh brewing coffee and breakfast squashed that hope to bits, but at least it was in a delicious way.
He opened his eyes with a groan and looked around for his lap buddy Lucy, but found she'd gone traitor and was wagging her tail begging for the piece of bacon that Tim was currently holding above her nose. "Morning." Tim said way to cheerily.
"God, don't you sleep?" Shawn asked looking at the clock. It was 7am and they had to have gone to bed around 1am.
Tim shrugged nonchalantly. I'm used to it. You get sleep when you can on set." He smiled wryly. "You should see Dulé. I swear to God he can sleep anywhere."
Shawn groaned as he stood and headed wearily over to the table. "I'll have to take your word on that man." He gratefully grabbed the coffee Tim offered and sipped it. "So what are we going to do about figuring out how I'm even here? All I know is that we have to find that voodoo necklace and where it came from."
Tim looked at him, drinking his own cup of coffee. "We're back to that again? How do you even know it was the necklace?"
"Well, I don't see anything else it could have been! Unless the door to the SBPD all of a sudden became an inner-demented portal!" He ranted with a sarcastic sneer.
"You mean inter-dimensional?"
"I've-"
Tim held out a hand to stop him, "Don't even. This is weird enough without having to put up with your catch phrases."
Shawn pouted and slumped farther into the chair.
Sighing, Tim put his coffee down and looked at him, "I'll see what I can do to help you. Maybe I can poke around and see where Michelle got it." At Shawn's blank look he explained further, "Our costume designer."
"Ooohhhh... but don't you guys have to shoot," He waved his hand dismissively, "scenes or something today?"
"I thought about that, but I figured who better to act like Shawn Spencer than, well... you." Tim gave him a worried glance, "I know you have stuff on your plate, but it would be a huge help if you could at least try. We honestly can't wait to film. We don't have much time and a lot of people are counting on this."
Shawn didn't know how he felt about it. From what he'd seen from watching the episodes they'd gotten more than one of his more "intimate" moments and it freaked him the hell out. Also, how the heck was he going to find the necklace to test his theory if he was being dragged around all day? But... there was a part of him that thought it would be kind of fun, in a weird sort of way, and he was never one to pass up on fun. Shawn finished the rest of his coffee in one gulp and grinned. "Count me in."
An hour later they were at the lot. Maggie had car pooled with them since she didn't have a giant dog that would need a whole back seat to himself. She had asked how he was doing and whether they'd gotten their "man time" in.
Shawn looked at her and cocked his head in a thoughtful way. She had a sweetness to her, but it was a different sweetness than his Juliet. It was hard not to hold her hand, kiss her... He squelched that thought. She was someone else's girlfriend. Hands off.
To take his mind off of the woman beside him, he looked out the window as they drove through the studio, and at the many warehouses that stored the sets. Now that he wasn't having a panic attack, he was able to see that it wasn't all that big, but apparently almost all the inside sets were in this place. His whole life was here in little pieces.
According to Tim, they were finishing up things at the "precinct" and then would be doing some location shots so they wouldn't be hanging around very long. Maggie waved goodbye to get dressed for her scenes and Tim pulled Shawn aside as soon as she was out of sight.
"Here's the script. Try to get some of the lines down okay?" Tim handed him a stack of papers. Apparently, to shoot faster, they shot as many separate scenes as they could at the same time. That meant Tim would have to leave him to his own devices for a while. So, he did Shawn a favor by pointing out everyone that he could, and telling Shawn their names in the few minutes he had.
Shawn did fine until Tim had to go change and he ran into a group of people he didn't know. The only way he got by in the conversation was to greet them with a "Heeeyyy... yoooou..." It took him only a couple times before he realized he was over annunciating again and just decided to avoid who he could, whenever he could.
The more he ran into people that knew James, the bigger the chance of people finding out he wasn't James. And he didn't want to be taken to some lab somewhere and experimented on, or put in some kind of freak show with the words, "MAN FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION" printed on a sign above his head.
He was relieved when Dulé approached him a few minutes after he'd arrived in the main cast area. He really missed Gus and his double was the next closest thing. Albeit with the Jersey accent that the actor had, Shawn figured he really did get all the girls Gus WISHED he could get. "Roday! We have to do some of the Psych office scenes, you down?"
"Hell yeah!" Shawn exclaimed and bounced down the hall after him. He was dying to see how close the set was to the real thing.
It ended up that it was exactly as their office currently was, though a few of the items were in different spots as they were moved around frequently. "Wow..." Shawn noticed the windows were covered in that same black curtain material that he'd run into the day before and parts of the office were open, allowing cameras to fit in the small space.
"Okay everyone quiet!" One of the stage hands shouted and immediately everyone obediently went silent.
Okay, what are we doing..? No one had told him anything about the "scene" they were shooting, but he'd always been good at playing things by ear.
As soon as the director said "action" it was like a switch had been flipped and right in front of him was Gus. Dulé's entire demeanor changed and he went all serious, taking a seat by his computer and typing on it.
"I don't know Shawn, I haven't been able to find anything out about that necklace besides the fact that it's called a plagi−"
Shawn started as Dulé stopped midsentence and blew a huge raspberry. I'll be damned! Shawn gaped. They're filming the same case we were working on. Maybe he should read the script, they might have something useful in there.
"Damn it what's the line again?" The black man shouted, frustrated, but still laughing at himself.
From the wings someone holding a script yelled out, "Plagioclase Feldspar!"
"Alright, I got it..."
It took Dulé at least three more times and a lot of good natured groans from the crew for him to get it right. Shawn cracked up after the second time, actually imagining Gus messing up one of his "precious" vocabulary words.
"... I haven't been able to find out anything besides the stone is called a Plagioclase Feldspar and this color is really rare. Do you think it had anything to do with why the woman was killed?"
Shawn flopped down in his chair, he didn't even have to think about what he was going to say, it just came out. "Gus, don't be the Applejack flavored Fruit Loops..."
"Gus, don't be Madonna after she was like a virgin..."
"Gus, don't be the wax in my ear..."
Each time they shot his part of the scene, he'd come up with a different phrase and half the takes were ruined by the people on the sidelines laughing. Eventually they got through it though, and Shawn took the time to take a meal break, despite the fact that he had eaten not more than two hours ago.
Unfortunately for him the person he'd dubbed "tall dude" took that moment to sneak up on him.
"James!"
Shawn practically jumped out of his skin, again. What is it with these people and sneaking up on me? He gave the man a sour look. "What?"
"We have to shoot your scene at Henry's house, c'mon!" The jovial grin on his face seemed to be infectious and Shawn found himself smiling back.
The last scene had been fun, and the crew seemed like they had fun too. "Alright, lead on!"
"So, did you like the additions to the scene?" The tall dude asked, making conversation. "I think I like this version better, and Dulé is all for it!"
Shawn hadn't read the script yet. He'd been too into the mounds of food he'd found on tables all over the sets, so he had no idea what this guy was talking about. He gave him a thumbs up anyway, "Love em'. Can't wait to get up in there and shoot some film!" Shawn hoped he sounded excited. Apparently he did because the man's smile only got wider.
They walked through a couple of doors and hallways before right in front of him was the house where he'd grown up. Albeit pieces of it, but just being there kicked up the Twilight Zone feeling a couple more notches. Not to mention all the cameras and crew in the room.
"So, this will be where you ask Henry for help. Remember the changes okay? Corbin is just around the corner. We gotta get this done then we hit the road for some outside shots while we still he light." He grinned widely and stepped out of frame to the side of the room.
Okay, I ask my dad for help all the time. Should be easy... "No problem." Shawn mumbled.
"Action!"
A moment later his "dad" walked in. Corbin, Shawn remembered his name from the night before. "Shawn, what have you gotten yourself into! If you would have been careful, more careful, and not gallivanting around crime scenes alone this never would have happened!"
Wow, he has my dad down pat. It was actually too good. Shawn had heard that song and dance more than once and it never failed to raise his hackles. He thought about all the things he'd wanted to say to his father, but never did. Shawn actually cared for his dad, a lot, but he wondered how often in life does someone get an opportunity like this? A small smile crept to his lips, They want acting? I'll give them acting.
"So, I'm a screw up again." Shawn made sure he sneered the words out, "Big surprise there old man!"
Corbin raised his eyebrows at him, obviously surprised by his intensity, but he had no idea how long Shawn had been holding this in.
"You stand there in your blinding Hawaiian shirts and try to judge me?" He made big gestures at Corbin's wardrobe. "Let's turn that all seeing eye inward shall we? Oh wait, you can't. You can't because you rode that high horse you've been on for years down to almost nothing. The only thing left is the horse's ass. It's time to get off it dad!"
"You've got some nerve kid!" Corbin played up the fight moving closer to Shawn, "I taught you everything you know!"
"Not everything I know, just everything you know." Shawn poked Corbin in the chest.
Corbin glared, "I'm not going to play this time Shawn. I'm not going to fall into one of your little blame games when it's you that got your best friend kidnapped."
"Well at least I didn't get shot by mine... whhhhaaaat?!" Too into the scene it took a moment for what Corbin had said to register. "Gus was kidnapped?!" He turned to look at the tall dude. "That's the change you made? You had Gus kidnapped? What kind of people..?" Shawn closed his mouth and held back the barrage of swear words he wanted to unleash on the people in the room.
This whole thing was no longer fun. Everything, in every episode of the show had been something that had happened in his life... except this. Gus hadn't been kidnapped before he'd been dumped here, so did that mean he was now... just because they filmed it?
Ignoring the shocked expressions of the crew, Shawn took off out the set door and down the corridors. He had to find the costume lady, and he had to find her now so he could get the hell out of this mess and back where he belonged. To his Santa Barbara.
PSYCH:
If Henry had any substantial hair left, he'd be pulling it out. His son called less than ten minutes before claiming that Gus had been kidnapped and he had one hour to figure out how to get him back.
He'd been pacing back and forth, expecting Shawn to roll up on his bike, giving excuses as to why it wasn't his fault that he may be getting his best friend killed because of his carelessness. What he hadn't been expecting was Shawn sprinting up to the house, out of breath from running probably all the way from the office.
What the hell? Henry watched out the kitchen window as Shawn looked the house over, both back and front, almost like he was making sure it was the right one. Finally Shawn went to the front door and knocked.
He knocked.
Shawn never knocked. The fact that he'd walked in on him and Maddie making love was a testament to that.
Before he could get through the front of the house to let him in, he was inside. "Dad!"
Henry rounded the corner, strangeness of the situation aside, he was still pissed off. "Shawn, what have you gotten yourself into! If you would have been careful, more careful, and not gallivanting around crime scenes alone this never would have happened!"
Shawn didn't say anything. He just stood there with a troubled expression.
"Well!? Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Henry's anger was starting to turn to concern. This wasn't at all like Shawn. Is he shell shocked? After another moment Shawn's eyes rose to meet his. Here it comes. Henry was actually relieved he was getting some reaction.
But then, Shawn scoffed and smirked wryly.
"You know. You act like everything is all my fault. That I am some great disappointment that never does anything right." Henry puffed out his chest, ready to give his retort. "But I know. I KNOW how much you care about me, and how proud you are of me."
Where the heck is this coming from? Henry wasn't sure how to handle this. Spencers as a rule didn't tend to bare their feelings often and it was usually a terribly awkward situation when they did.
Shawn rubbed his lip and started to pace. "Gus is his own person you know. He chooses to work beside me. He knows the risks of it, more than you do."
Henry immediately got indignant. Shawn learned everything he knew from him. Who was he to say that he didn't know the risks of the job? "What? I was an officer for years! How can you say −"
"You don't, okay. You weren't there and I never told you." Shawn swallowed hard, like he was unsure he should say anything.
"Oh really? Well, what did you not tell me?" This excuse had better be good. Henry stood with his arms folded scowling as Shawn stopped in front of him.
"Yin had us down for the count. He had us tied up with a needle against Gus. Ready to kill him. I could have saved us if I tried, and I did try."
Henry's breath caught in his throat. It had been almost four years, and he hadn't heard that, and hadn't heard Shawn even say the word Yin in that long either. Only Shawn, Gus, and Yang had ever known what had happened to Yin in that room, and how he was killed. "Shawn?"
"And Gus, he said he'd never regretted anything. Not one second, and he'd do it all again." Shawn's hazel eyes burned into his own. "So don't go blaming him for everything. Other people make decisions too, and even if Shawn isn't all that responsible, he still tries to do the right thing. That should count for something in your binder."
Him? Shawn? When did my son start talking about himself in the third person? Then realization hit him. His son had a mental break. Gus getting taken must have sent him over the edge. "Kid, are you alright? I uh, may have pushed you a bit hard. We should call Juliet and Lassiter, they'll be able to help okay?" Henry started reaching for his phone.
Shawn rolled his eyes, "For the love of... Henry listen."
The retired officer stiffened as his son's demeanor completely changed. His stance, his speaking pattern...everything. He put his phone away and stared warily.
"We have exactly forty five minutes before some murderer wants to meet me to get this." He reached in his pocket and Henry flinched back, unsure of what would be pulled out. It ended up just being a beaded necklace with a green, jade like stone. "He said to trade this for Gus."
"Well let's give it to him then! It's just a necklace." Henry didn't understand why they were even discussing the matter. Shawn would never have hesitated to give up anything for his friends.
Shawn's hand closed protectively around it. "It isn't that simple..."
"Not that simple? Not that simple..." Henry squinted his eyes. There was something wrong here. His instincts had been telling him that since Shawn arrived. If he didn't know better, he'd say the person in front of him wasn't his son at all. Taking a chance, he narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who are you?"
The man in front of him pursed his lips. "Henry, I don't have time to explain that right now. Suffice to say, I do want to save Gus, but we need to find a way to get him back and keep the necklace. To do that, I need your help."
Goddamn it Shawn, what did you get into now? He knew he should really call the others in, but he'd have to do that after they got Gus, and the man was right. There wasn't much time. "Fine, I'm listening..."
END NOTES: I had to break the POV pattern. I couldn't do Gus' and move the story along, so I chose Henry rather than going with James' because I wanted to get into his head when he figured things out...kinda. I always figured Henry would be professional enough to get down to business, even when faced with the fact that his son might not be his son.
Shawn also knows Gus may be missing and imagine how crazy he's gonna go knowing there's nothing he can do for him while he's stuck in another reality.
