Hello all! I'm back with another chapter! It's a little shorter this week and I apologize for that. But I think you will find it quite revealing. Not too much Shawn whumping in here but...uh...next time is going to be very intense so I figured we should have a bit of a break. Can't believe Psych season 6 is almost over! :( Looking forward to the first non Yin/Yang finale since season 2 though! They've really gotta bring the good stuff to this to follow that trilogy up! Ah well I guess I'll just have to stick to FanFic to pass the time till season 7. :) And speaking of FanFics there's one right under these words! Enjoy it! :D

Chapter 11

Carlton Lassiter closed the door behind him with a bang! and ran his fingers through his hair. He was going on his seventh hour of interrogation, and he was about ready to crack. Max Brachman had been in the interrogation room for about eleven hours now, being questioned by Lassiter and others, and he still wouldn't even speak.

Lassiter walked into the viewing room where he knew the chief was waiting for him. He surveyed Max through the glass. Max stared strait ahead at the wall, like he had been doing for the past eleven hours.

"Chief, I know I'm usually not one to freely admit this, but between you and me, I'm at a loss for what to do. I've tried everything I know. And this guy still won't crack! I don't get it. What does he have to loose?"

The chief turned to him very suddenly. She looked thoughtful as she said, "That's a good question Detective. What does he have to loose? What isn't he telling us?"

"At this point, he's not telling us anything! Honestly chief, I'd like a confession out of him. I'm not sure how well O'Hara and my stories will hold up in court."

"Well, there's always the DNA evidence. And the fingerprints."

"A confession seals the deal."

"Well then Detective," she turned back to the window, "go in there and get it."

He sighed and nodded. He stopped to take a long gulp of the coffee McNabb was offering him before entering the room again.

He had just sat down across from Brachman when McNabb cracked the door open.

"Sir, there's some news for you," he told Lassiter, motioning him over. Lassiter kept one eye on Max, who kept both eyes on the wall as McNabb whispered, "We just got a call from Henry. Shawn's waking up, but there's no word on his condition yet."

Lassiter nodded a quick thanks and turned to the table. "You hear that Lowlife? Shawn's waking up. Once he's awake we'll have his statement and you'll be out of here and into a cell to rot for the rest of your life." When there was no reaction, Lassiter continued. "Besides murder and attempted murder we've got plenty of other charges to press. You've got quite a track record. We know everything you've been doing for the past fifteen years. Now if you confess, we might be able to drop a few of those charges. Maybe shave a bit of time off of your sentence. But this is your last chance."

Max never moved his eyes from the wall, but finally spoke in a voice that sent chills down Lassiter's spine (though he'd never admit it).

"You think you're the only one who knows things Detective…Lassiter I believe it is? I know plenty about you. You have a girlfriend, I know that. She's in the state penitentiary until April twenty-third. Prisoner number 495. Her name is Marlowe. Personally I don't find her that attractive but everyone's entitled to his own opinion I guess."

Lassiter's face lost all color and he reacted impulsively, reaching across the table and grabbing Max by his shirt collar.

"Who told you that? How did you know that?"

Max finally turned his head and stared at Lassiter with those gray eyes once again.

"I have ways, Detective. Oh and one more thing. You're boy's not going to talk. Rumor has it that he went a little kooky during his incarceration."

"Incarseration? You tortured him you scumbag! You beat him in the head with a baseball bat! He almost died!" Lassiter slammed his fists down on the table, but Max didn't even jump. Instead he stared back at his spot on the wall and smiled slightly.

"I'd like to use my right to remain silent now, Detective. As always, it's been a pleasure." He smirked and fingered the bandage on his shoulder.

Lassiter stood up suddenly, not even bothering to care about picking up his toppled chair. He opened the door to the hallway forcefully, startling McNabb. He stomped out into the small area behind the stairs and vented his frustration by bashing his fists into the wall several times.

Why did this guy make him so angry? He had dealt with criminals that enjoyed their destruction before and he had never gotten this angry. Was it because it was Spencer? He banished the thought from his brain immediately. But his own words still rang in his head, "He almost died!" Spencer almost died. The whole weight of the situation suddenly felt too heavy. He resumed punching the wall until he felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the chief.

"How the heck did he know about Marlowe?" he burst out.

"I don't know Carlton," she sighed. "But his comment about Shawn has me worried. I think I'm going to call the interrogation quits for the day. Grab your jacket. Let's go check up on Mr. Spencer."

X X X X X X X X X X

Gus buried his head in his hands as another scream echoed down the hallway. The only sound in the waiting room was Henry's stomping as he paced from the door to the chairs where they were all seated and back again. Juliet had left to "go get something to eat" but everyone knew she just wanted out of there. To be perfectly honest, no one else wanted to be there either. Just sitting there subjected to listening to –

Another scream sounded from behind the closed doors. "No! Stop! Leave me alone! Get your hands off me!" The words were barely distinguishable, but the three people left in the waiting room knew Shawn well enough to understand him no matter what. After all, he hadn't figured out that talking with his mouth full was impolite until after age sixteen.

Gus smiled at the memories, but he didn't let the smile stay on his face long. It felt too inappropriate.

The next scream did it for Henry. "What is taking them so long! What the heck are they doing to him!" He was about to burst through the doors to find Shawn when the doctor came out those same doors. He and Henry ran right into each other, knocking the other one back a little. Henry recovered more quickly than the doctor and was very quick to pounce on him, asking him for the news. Just as the doctor was about to speak, Juliet, Lassiter, and Chief Vic burst in.

"Good timing," Gus whispered to Juliet. She smiled a little and took her place between him and Lassiter.

The doctor began. "After doing extensive tests," Henry made a scoffing noise loud enough for them all to hear, "we can't seem to find exactly what's wrong with Mr. Spencer."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Henry was in a rage. "You spend three hours torturing my son and you can't even find out what's wrong with him?" Maddie lay her hand on Henry's shoulder.

"Henry…"

"Don't you dare Henry me Maddie! This is serious! There's obviously something wrong with the kid!" Henry yelled back.

Gus was the only one to notice the doctor trying to speak. "Doctor, I believe you have more to say?" he stepped in.

"Ahem…" the doctor cleared his throat. "Yes, I do have something else. Mr. Spencer I said that we cannot pinpoint exactly what's wrong with your son. However I can give you my best guess. I'm not sure what happened to him in there but he has some serious brain damage from the beatings he took and he seems to have gone…well the best way I can explain it is that his brain has built up a dam to keep the thoughts about his imprisonment out. Every time we say or do something that reminds him of his…err…experience…he is forced to push everything back to keep the memories from coming.

And when I say everything I really mean everything. He doesn't seem to be able to – or want to for that matter – remember anything past his fifth birthday. Now I should clarify that he still has basic skills such as reading and writing, but he won't be quite the same. Until he can get well enough to deal with remembering he will act…well he will act like a toddler."

There was no sound in the room until Lassiter muttered, "Doesn't he already?" Juliet elbowed him in the side, but his face was as pale as everyone else's.

"What do you suggest we do, doctor?" Maddie asked, pushing in front of the stunned-silent Henry.

"In my professional opinion I would just play along with him. In time, he will get better. Don't talk about the past too much. I'll give you a prescription in case he has a panic attack, but there isn't much else I can do. You need to try and keep him calm so he doesn't hurt himself. I must admit, we had to re-wrap his chest because he pulled one of his ribs out of alignment again."

Gus' face turned a shade lighter than it already was.

"I'm going to release him in the morning," the doctor told them. "There's not much more the hospital can do for him. He just needs time to recover: both physically and mentally. Bring him back in a month if there are no complications. I'll check up on him then. Come on back to the room while I get the papers."

In stunned silence, the six adults followed the doctor back to Shawn's room.

"Hi Spence," Henry whispered. Shawn was fast asleep, curled up in his bed. Henry shook him gently. "Spence, time to get up. We're going home."

X X X X X X X X X

Henry parked his truck quickly and ran around the car to help Shawn out of the back seat. Juliet had ridden with Gus and Lassiter and the Chief had gone back to the station. Maddie grabbed Shawn's crutches and they eased him out of the back.

A smile lit up Shawn's face. "Daddy, we're home!" he called to his dad excitedly.

"Yes Spence, yes. We're home." Shawn hopped as quickly as he could into the house. Strangely enough he didn't seem fazed by the changes the house had gone through since his childhood. Suddenly a terrifying thought shot through Henry's brain.

"Spence, let's get you upstairs to your room. You look tired." Henry led him upstairs, away from the prying eyes of his mother, best friend, and girlfriend. As soon as they reached his room Henry pushed him down onto his bed. "Spence look at me. We're just going to do a little test." Shawn winced. "No, no, it will be nothing like the ones that those doctors did. And there's no need to tell your mother about this, alright?"

Shawn winked and grinned. "My lips are sealed Daddy."

"Alright Spence…" Henry searched for something that would suit his purpose. The prescription that the doctor had given would work quite nicely. He held it in his fist and looked into Shawn's big eyes. They were so much more innocent than they had always been. He tried to think back to when Shawn was actually five. The two of them had started fighting so early he couldn't even remember a time that they hadn't clashed. For the first time he wondered if it was because Shawn was too much like him. He had always blamed it on Maddie. But maybe he could have lightened up a bit…suddenly what he was about to do didn't matter as much as it had before.

"You know what Spence? Go ahead and rest. We'll talk about this in the morning." Shawn nodded and whipped his T-shirt off. Henry couldn't help cringing a little at the bandages that covered his whole chest. There was barely any skin visible. The hospital had also wrapped Shawn's arms and legs, effectively making him look a lot like a mummy.

Shawn fell backwards onto the pillow and closed his eyes. Henry pulled the covers up over him. "Hey Daddy?"

"Yes Sha – uh Spence?"

"Thank you. For everything." The sincerity in his voice made Henry actually take a step back. It had been such a long time since Shawn had thanked him without sarcasm.

"Um…you're welcome Spence. Good night…" Henry flicked the lights off.

Shawn yawned and mumbled, "Love you Daddy," before instantly falling into a deep sleep.

"I love you too Shawn," Henry whispered into the darkness.

Well there you go. Henry's got a second chanse with Shawn...err...Spence and Gus and Jules just really need some time with this new Shawn. And has ANYONE figured out what they're missing? Like someone who was there at the begining and now has suddenly just disapeared from the story? Anyone...Anyone...Bueller...? Now...just because you put syrup on something don't make it pancakes! Review! :D (Yeah I've been using that line like once a day since the last episode) :) But seriously, REVIEW! We're getting closer to 100! :D :D :D