Chapter 10! I really hope this has been worth it for you guys.

And if you skipped, which I forgot to warn you, so you probably didn't, Gus died last chapter, and that's all there is to it! Well, sorta. I probably could've gotten away with not killing him, but that doesn't make for a very good story, does it?

OK, so off that path and onto another: There's more death to come. Just a forewarning.

"GUS!"

Shawn's anguished cry stopped the room in their tracks as everyone stopped to look at the downed man.

Abigail lifted the knife again. "This time, I won't miss!" she spat, bringing her arm down.

Blam!

The report echoed around the house, the bullet lodging itself into the wall just above Shawn's head. Abigail's hand went slack immediately, the knife clattering to the floor. As her body fell, O'Hara made her way farther into the house, her gun letting out a wisp of smoke that was caught by the breeze outside and carried away.

"I'd say you need backup," she said, blowing a small piece of hair that hadn't made it to her ponytail out of her eye.

"Thank God you are here," Lassiter groaned, stepping forward to untie Shawn. "But you couldn't have gotten here, say, 20 minutes ago when we were just going to come in?"

"My timing's good, but I'm not that damn good. Especially when my partner doesn't tell me anything about his plans!" she said, voice rising.

"O'Hara-"

"No! Don't O'Hara me! What happened to being a team, hmmm?"

"No, behind you!"

"Huh?" She turned just in time to take the bullet, which would've been through the back of the head like Abigail's, straight in her forehead. The blood splattered out the back of her head, catching Shawn, Lassiter, Gus' body, and Madeline Spencer/Shepherd, who had just come from the adjacent hallway.

"Henry, how nice to see you," she smirked. "Do you like the house? I was going for something…urbane."

"Nice, except for the blood you just sprayed everywhere. Don't you have any common sense?" Henry bantered back, edging closer and hoping she wouldn't notice.

"Not so fast, my dear ex husband," she said, swiftly aiming the gun at him instead. "I intend to get out of here cleanly, again. What do you think, Shawnie? Maybe…Russia this time? I hear they don't have as strict of-"

The last of her sentence was cut off by the bullet that entered her left temple. Lassiter had the gun, Shawn still tied to the chair.

"Nice shot, detective. There was one major thing you forgot, though."

"And what would that be?" Lassiter asked, a hint of sarcasm coming to his voice.

"I wanted to kill her! As payback. Now, please finish untying me?"

Henry beat him to it, fussing with the knot even as he said, "You would've had to be in line, kid. I've been wanting to do that for twenty years."

Finally free, Shawn stood and froze as a booming voice came from outside.

"This is the police! Come out with Detective O'Hara or Agent Guster in the lead, or we will shoot everyone when they come out!"

"Damn it!" Lassiter said, his face crinkling in disgust. "These police would really do that?"

"Hah, imagine growing up with it," Shawn said humorlessly. He gently hefted Gus' body up. "Might as well give them what they want."

They fashioned a makeshift pole out of the curtain rods, and tied a white cloth to the end in a semblance of a surrender flag. "We're coming out, don't shoot!"

Henry poked the flag out the door, and they heard several guns click the safety off at the same time. Lassiter went first, O'Hara cradled gently in his arms.

"Who are you?" the man who must've been the chief asked in a heavily accented voice.

"Detective Carlton Lassiter, partner to Detective O'Hara," Lassiter called back out. "O'Hara's dead, shot to the head at close range by Madeline…"

"Shepherd," Shawn hissed out the door.

"Madeline Shepherd," Lassiter finished lamely.

"And Guster?"

"Stab wound to the neck saving us," Shawn answered this time, a small knot working itself into his throat as he spoke. "Wielded by Abigail Lytar."

"We shall see," the chief said. "Have either of those ladies come out first."

"Dead as well," Lassiter countered, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "Lytar with a shot to the back of the head by Detective O'Hara, and Shepherd with a shot to the temple by me."

"No wonder it sounded like World War III had started in there," a new voice chipped in. Chief Karen Vick was standing there, and she did not look happy.

"Stand down your men, please. The one in the lead would be much more valuable to me alive, and as for the other two…" Vick narrowed her eyes. "We will need to make arrangements."

The French police chief looked oddly disappointed, but ordered the men down anyway.

"You three, with me," Vick said, beckoning them to a squad cruiser that was unmanned. She got in the front seat, glaring as Shawn tried to call shotgun. "I think not. All of you, backseat."

The ride was silent to the police station, and Vick was not a happy chief of police. She filled out the required forms to get the three of them back to the US with her.

"I want tonight to be silent. I want the plane ride to be silent. Understood?" The chief was not in a good mood, and her anger was reflected in her jerky movements, icy tone, and eyes.

They spent the night and the next day absolutely silent.

Finally back in Santa Barbara, Vick stood in her office. "Explain why I shouldn't book all three of you on charges of conspiracy and murder, you especially," she said, poking her finger at Shawn at the last addition.

The three exchanged glances. "Here's the proof," Henry finally offered, throwing the packet of papers that he and Lassiter had found in the basement safe on her deck.

Brow furrowed, Vick began to scan through the documents. "That's…a pretty good reason," she finally admitted.

"There'll still be a trial for you, though, Shawn Spencer, and I'd like to speak with you for a few moments. You two, however, are dismissed."

Lassiter and Henry exited, and didn't even think about trying to listen in. They may have gotten off the hook, but they weren't pushing it.

OK, I'm sorry this is so lame towards the end. But I'm trying to finish it as I have had a lot of stuff going on, and I figured hey, this might be better than nothing. The last bit will be posted momentarily as well.

Oh, and before you ask: yes, the death of Juliet is necessary. While it's sad, and as much as I don't like the idea of Shawn/Juliet, I DON'T want her killed off, but you'll understand next chapter.