Title: Frozen in Time


Eight: Forgiveness

The act of pardoning somebody for a mistake or wrong doing.

She heard someone call her name, looking up from the book she was reading Juliet saw Gus walking toward her. She waved and smiled, happy to see him. This was her day off; she wanted to make the best of it. Having gone to her favorite café, she grabbed one of the outside tables and settled in for a long afternoon of relaxing. Now that she was going to have company she realized just how awkward it was to be off for the day. She felt this weird sense of being disconnected from everyone else. It didn't really sit all that well with her. Gus took a seat in the chair across from her, a smile on his lips. She returned the gesture, wondering where Shawn was; it was unusual to see one without the other.

"Enjoying your day off?" Gus asked in a casual tone.

"As much as one can," she replied.

"Missing Lassiter or something?"

She laughed lightly. "I don't think anyone can really miss Lassiter. He's so…abrasive. I'm sure that he means well and all but…" She shrugged, unsure of how to voice her feelings. She did care about her partner but sometimes it was hard to get along with him. He had his own way of doing thins; which usually rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. He was also a damn good detective so she tried to learn as much as she could from him.

Gus had a knowing look on his face when he said, "I know someone who would miss him."

"Really?" she asked, all serious now. When had she last heard some good gossip? Hanging out with guys all day didn't really compare to some quality time with the girls. And she just couldn't help but be curious about this person; someone missing Lassiter? That was someone she had to meet. "Who is it?"

"One guess…" Gus said, smiling.

Something about his smile made her falter. She began to search her mind, going back over the last few months to see if maybe she could figure out who the person was. Slowly it began to come to her. The way that Shawn was always around, even though Lassiter was anything but nice to him. How sometimes he would look hurt, truly hurt, when Lassiter said something rude and turned him away. Then she found herself wondering why she hadn't noticed it before. Maybe because she'd been so caught up in her job, trying to stay on Lassiter's good side. Still, there had been a lot of little things, all of which she should have caught.

"Shawn…and Lassiter?" she mused, the whole thing sounding wrong while oddly seeming right.

Gus nodded. "Just don't tell Shawn that I told you. He doesn't want everyone to know."

She slowly shook her head, stunned into silence.

And it was that same silence that made Gus frown. "Juliet? Something wrong? I mean…you aren't bothered by Shawn being bisexual, are you?"

"No, not at all," she smiled assuredly. "I'm just worried about how Lassiter would take knowing. He doesn't really seem like the type…Shawn bugs him."

"From what I understand, from the things that Shawn has told me," Gus said, leaning across the table. "Lassiter already knows."

Juliet's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Is there anything…you know, going on between them? 'Cause Lassiter really needs to get laid. It might improve his mood."

This time it was Gus who found himself chuckling.

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Unlike Juliet, Lassiter didn't have the day off. It had been offered to him but he turned it down, intending to keep himself busy with work. He kept replaying in his mind the last conversation he had with Shawn and it made doing his job that much harder. He hated the psychic. He hated him with a fiery passion. He hated Shawn…did he hate Shawn? The other man could be so annoying at times, rubbing the detective the wrong way. But there were moments when Lassiter liked having him around, not that he would openly admit it to anyone. He had played up his dislike for Shawn so well that now it seemed as though he would have to keep it up, for the sake of his reputation. His was the best damn detective working for the Santa Barbra Police Department and he wasn't going to give anyone reason to doubt him, to not pay attention to him when he made orders.

And yet, he'd been sitting at his desk for three hours and still hadn't finished one report.

"Go home, Carlton," Karin said. "Stop trying to impress me by looking like you're doing work when all you are really doing is daydreaming."

"I'm not daydreaming."

"Go home," she said. The sound of her voice told him that it would best if he listened and left. Smiling somewhat distractedly he gathered his things and walked out of the building. Once outside in the bright California sun he found Shawn, the object of his frustration, leaning against his car. He thought about turning around and heading back into the building; maybe hiding somewhere that neither Shawn nor his boss could find. But it was too late. The fake psychic had been waiting for him, watching the door, biding his time.

"Lassy!" exclaimed Shawn.

Lassiter felt his shoulders slump lightly and an increase in the beat of his heart. He couldn't tell if the latter was out of anger or something else. Maybe he knew and just didn't want to admit it to himself. "What do you want, Spencer?" he asked as he met the psychic at the bottom of the stairs.

"Gee, sounds like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed."

The detective checked his watch. "I'm surprised to see that you're even out of bed. Isn't it a little early for you?"

"Aw, come on," Shawn started. When Lassiter unlocked the doors of his car Shawn slipped into the passenger seat before the detective could lock them again. "You can't get rid of me that easily. You should know that by now."

"Spencer, I'm only going to say this once," he said. "Get out of my car."

"And if I don't?"

"Spencer!"

Shawn put his hands up, palms facing the detective. "Okay, okay. I get it; you want to be crabby today."

He heard the disappointment in Shawn's voice and for some reason it made him feel bad. He hated where this was going but saw no other way to rectify the situation. Even just thinking about saying the words made him feel a touch nauseous. "I'm…sorry."

"Really?"

Lassiter threw him a look.

Shawn smiled. "Okay. Now that that's out of the way."

"Get out," Lassiter interrupted. He could see a few of the uniformed officers looking their way and he didn't want them to get any ideas. He couldn't let them think that he had gone soft.

"Even after all that-"

"Spencer, out!"

"Message received," Shawn said. He opened the passenger door and slipped out. Leaning over he said, "It's nice to see that some things don't change." Then he closed the door. A second later the detective pulled away so he didn't hear what Shawn said next. "I just wish that other things would."