This is dedicated to all of you, my wonderful readers, and to Runner. If he'd stop glaring at me and eating that pineapple without sharing, I might be a little sweeter to him... Nah.
Lassiter was writing notes on the case when an envelope fell out of his writing tablet. With the florescent light glaring over his head, he stooped over, running his hands over the heavy paper of the envelope. Frowning, he read the inscription and called O'Hara over.
Juliet recognized the writing as Shawn's immediately. With hesitant fingers, she opened the envelope.
Dear Jules, Maggie, or whatever it is you go by,
I never meant to hurt you. All of the pretending to be a psychic and that... I just wanted to help people. And the psychic thing wasn't really my choice. Ask Lassie. It was that or prison. How ironic is it that I ended up here anyway?
After you read this, you'll get the call pulling you off this case. Conflict of interest and other bureaucratic bs.
When you go back, you might want to look back into my case. Maybe check the evidence locker for a certain Nintendo DS. Maybe look inside the battery compartment. Maybe you should feel a little bad about treating me like the plague after I was dragged in. Maybe, you should have come to my trial. Maybe I should wonder why, after you said you loved me, all four hundred and twenty eight letters I wrote you every day in the beginning were returned unopened. Maybe I should wonder why I still love you. Maybe you should wonder why you're still alive after you kept throwing yourself into danger those first few months. Maybe. There's a heck of a lot of maybe's behind these walls. What I want to know is if there are any Somedays.
Signed,
Runner
p.s. do you know what a guy has to do to get a pineapple around here? Let me clue you in. It involves a very large hairy man with more warts than the sixth grade cafeteria lady.
Shawn winced as the guards tossed him none to gently into the cell in solitary and eased his pounding head back against the cold concrete wall.
He hated this room and all of the memories it brought.
... Shawn Spencer stood as near to the guard as he could while they escorted the prisoners to mess. It hadn't taken him long to realize that was the only way he'd survive. Prison hardened faces leered at him through the bars of the cells they passed and Shawn swallowed hard when they passed the strange one, Puppet, and he felt a hand snag in his jumpsuit, pulling him closer to the cell. The man's other hand slid down Shawn's leg. Jerking away, Shawn shivered, feeling violated. There was something wrong with the people here. Wary men with their backs to the walls. He missed Gus. His new cellmate slept with his eyes open and had a disturbing tendency to slink down off the top bunk in the middle of the night and sit on the grimy concrete floor just staring at him. Sailor was a lifer, and you could tell. There was a defeated shuffle to his walk, a weariness in his eyes... Yet, that also made him dangerous. Sailor had no more years to give, nothing to lose. So Shawn hadn't slept. Sitting on the hard cot with his back against the wall and those hard, stormy eyes staring back at him. Instead, he avoided those eyes and watched the man's hands as they expertly shuffled a pack of cards, over and over again...
Runner frowned and shook himself awake, reminding himself that Sailor was gone. Dead. Puppet was gone. Dead. And he was Runner now. No longer Shawn Spencer.
... The worst thing was the privacy, or lack thereof. For the first couple of months he felt so wrong, standing to take a piss with Sailor's eyes watching, face split in a gap-toothed grin...
Shawn- no, Runner- he corrected himself, was alone. No Gus or 'Jackal.' No one. No 'Brothers' in solitary.
...He woke up in the prison hospital, arms bound at uncomfortable angles to the too-thin cot. He could hear voices, the voices of the Doctor and the Guard. The Enemies. He could hear them whispering about him. How they'd found him in the Yard after following the trail of blood that led from the three dead men. The three dead men with their hard looks, feral grins, and wandering hands- They talked of how they found him, how they found him sitting there laughing, gurgling really, on the ground, the shank still protruding from his throat. Hands shaking with blood loss and knuckles torn from fighting back. Runner listened to their fearful whispers and smiled. No more running...
The dreams- memories- plagued him under the unrelenting lights of solitary. In confinement, there was no bed, no blanket or even a pillow. Just a toilet and bright florescent lights left on twenty-four seven until the prisoners inside lost all track of time, feeling like they'd been in there for eternity.
...After Shawn gave way to Runner, and Runner stopped meaning he ran and became the other way around, Shawn spent most of his time in solitary. Some days he would repeat Jackal's name over and over again in his head, trying not to forget that there was more outside than this room and two tasteless meals a day. He found himself dreaming of pineapples, trying to remember what they tasted like, and watching reruns of all of the eighties shows he had ever seen in his head. Over and over again...
It was on a day like that that Shawn Spencer died and Runner took his place.
...It started with one man. Eyes dark and brooding, he approached Runner and Jackal, setting his tray down at their table with a decisive clang. The newly tattooed skin on his shoulder was an angry red, making the pineapple that covered the dagger that used to occupy the space even more obvious. Runner leveled an appreciative look at the man, who bowed his head. Runner nodded with a half-smile. The man had offered his neck, offered vulnerability to him for a place at his table. In exchange, he was a Brother, an Hermano. Over the next few weeks, the table slowly filled up, and the men were sitting up straighter, smiling, unafraid with their pineapple tattoos boldly flaunted...
It would be three years before Runner would be approached by an agency, an agency with a job for him, a temporary work release, and he would take it. And he would remember. Remember a man he once met, a man like him. And no one would ask about the hours Runner spent in the library, finding the others. No one would ever question him. And Runner wouldn't seem to mind 'solitary' very much any longer. He was Runner, and all doors were open to him.
...Runner lit a cigarette and drew a long pull. Like smoking would kill him now?
The Reviewers Room:
For all you wonderful people:
Kalvinanne:
I'll try to make the figuring out thing more difficult, and throw in some more Badassery to keep you hooked. ;-P
Dragongirl15:
You said they're a bunch of your favorite characters? Extra credit points for you if you mean Jude, too. I'm excited that you came back, kept reading. I hope I make it worth it. Right now it's a little difficult because I lost all of my plot notes a while ago so I'm flying by the seat of my pants with this one. I got a few ideas, though. This plot bunny is hopefully gonna work like really bunnies and pop a few new ones out, if you can pardon the expression. More for you soon! (SS) [#] (pineapple for you)
ProudToBePurple:
Hello, my dear, dear reader. Kudos for you! New readers always deserve some love so I'm giving out an extra one of my precious pineapples to you, too. [#] (Don't squander my blessing but eat the God's fruit with appreciation and I won't squander your readership by updating when you review)
Mdrat:
It's not ahead, I just update the chapters differently. Good to know someone else is crossing over between Psychfic and ff. Thanks for the compliment! I'll try to update both!
P3xWhatever:
You're just gonna have to wait and find out on this on. The might... :) Otherwise, thanks for the review. You know I love them more than jerk chicken, which is saying something. Badassery tag is a go! Let's start a movement!
Torchil:
Here you go. Gotcha an update. If your still ecstatic then I've done my job wonderfully. Please review and let me know what you think. I'll have less of my version of fluff in the next chapter and more of my favorite thing: BADASSERY! WHOOP! WHOOP! Hope ya like it, too.
To the rest of you: All my love, but please review. I know it's bribery (or blackmail or something) but I'll post faster and I might add a little something for ya if you request it. May you have a loverly week. And a loverly time waiting for my next update :^[ (mwahahahahahahaha)