This one…was extremely emotionally draining to write. I swore I would never do something this painful again, but I am a Lying Liar from Liarsville. Be warned: there is a lot of torture involved in this. Pedophilia is mentioned, but I do not go into detail. Just. There's a lot of torture with this. And partial nudity, but not at all in a sexual sense.
Be careful, you guys.
Shawn Spencer has had his fair share of dangerous situations, but he takes pride that, until today, he was able to avoid getting his loved ones roped into his messes (except for the entire Yin and Yang case – that was a different story because, well, serial killers; besides, they personally singled him out and tried to make his life a living hell but that's not the point). Up until today, in fact, he was very good about only getting himself into increasingly dangerous situations.
How was he supposed to know that the guys he'd been following were drug lords? He was stalking them because their girlfriends thought they were cheating on them.
Though, now, if he had to guess, Shawn would say the girlfriends were in on it, too, just in case the police got involved and brought Shawn and Gus in as consultants.
Which could explain why Henry is here as well.
Shawn tries to free himself from the restraints, but his hands are tied behind his back with the zip plastic, and one glance at Henry's and Gus's chairs prove that that indeed is the restraint of choice in these parts. The chairs are made of steel, and they're very hard and very cold.
To Shawn's right, Gus is on the verge of a panic attack. To his left, Henry is trying to assess the severity of their predicament. At the front of the warehouse, in this bleak and gray-streaked room, the drug lords whisper, gesturing wildly with various instruments of what Shawn can only assume as torture. He twists his head.
"Dad."
Henry looks away from the front of the room and changes his focus to Shawn. "What?"
"Um, what are they doing?"
Henry shakes his head. "I'm assuming they're preparing to torture us." He leans forward – as much as his restraints will allow – and hisses, "Do you have any idea what you stumbled upon?"
Shawn shrinks into his shoulders like a turtle retreating into its shell. "I didn't know! I thought I was just following sleazy boyfriends!"
Henry sighs, and he sounds exhausted. "I'm sorry, son, it's just – how did they get so good at fooling people?"
"I think their girlfriends had something to do with it."
Henry purses his lips and nods slowly. "Okay, first things first: get Gus over there to calm down. I'll see what we can do about getting out of here."
Shawn winces. "Dad, I don't think that's gonna happen."
Henry lasers him with a gaze more intense than Shawn has ever received from his father. "You're getting out of here alive. Gus, too. I swear on my own grave, you two are getting out of here."
"Dad –"
"No arguments. Calm Gus down."
Shawn thinks about getting into an argument with his father, but he knows he'll just lose it anyways, so he turns his head the other direction. "Hey. Hey, buddy."
Gus whips his head around. "No. Don't you 'hey, buddy' me. I told you not to take another cheating boyfriend case, and what did you do? You took another cheating boyfriend case!"
"I thought it was just a cheating boyfriend!"
"Well, it wasn't, Shawn!" Gus looks straight forward, where the drug lords seem to have arrived at an agreement. His chest rises rapidly and his bottom lip trembles.
Shawn sighs and licks his lips. "Look, Gus, I'm sorry. I– I didn't think they'd drag you and my dad into this. I started us on this path, I should be– I should be the one to finish it."
Gus tears his eyes away from their captors. "What the hell are you saying, Shawn?"
Shawn glances over his left shoulder, hoping that his dad isn't listening in. Just in case, he leans as close as he can to Gus and whispers, "Listen, I'm not gonna let them kill you or Dad. You guys really weren't even involved in this case; it's my business, I'll– I'd rather myself die than you or Dad."
Gus shakes his head wildly. "Uh-uh. No, you don't, Shawn. That's just your way of guilt-tripping me into not having a panic attack, and you know what? It worked, but now I'm gonna tell your father about your self-sacrificial attitude."
"What? Dude, don't do this to m–"
"Mr. Spencer?"
"Shawn, if you die before me, I will kill you."
Gus looks at Shawn and smiles smugly. "Listen, you had a date with Juliet tonight, right? Shouldn't she know that you're missing if you don't show up?"
Shawn nods. "I hope so." He laughs mirthlessly. "At least she's not Abigail; she'd say that I was just standing her up."
Gus nods in agreement, but before he can say much else, Henry catches their attention.
"Psst," he hisses, nodding to the door. The drug lords' lackeys waddle inside, holding a bare metal bed frame. They glance at their bosses and follow their index fingers to the bed's destination.
"Oh, Jesus Christ," Henry breathes.
Gus takes in a sharp breath and recoils.
"What?" Shawn says, looking between them. "What am I missing? It's just a bed frame, I don't see –"
Henry nods to the electrodes in Bad Guy 1's hands. "They're planning to electrocute us. It's a form of torture, originated from Argentina. It's– it's awful, to say the least, and if it kills us, they honestly couldn't care less."
Shawn gulps. "That is…very bad."
"Yep." Henry starts struggling against the restraints. "Hey!" he shouts, hoping to get the captors' attention. "I was supposed to be watching OSU vs. OU right about now! You guys are keeping me from one hell of a game!"
Bad Guy 2 rolls his eyes. "Shut up, old man. We know what you're doing." He grins, and Shawn is immediately filled with fear. His smile is hungry, it's evil. Bad Guy 2 strides over to the three of them, bends down in front of Henry, and says, "You know, just for that, we're gonna make this kid beside you go first."
All color drains from Henry's face, and his body sags. "Please, God, no. Let me go first. Please, I'm begging you, let me go first. Don't hurt him."
Bad Guy 2 chuckles. "Not gonna happen, old man." He moves over to Shawn, cutting through his binds with Henry's Swiss Army Knife. He grabs Shawn's arm roughly and jerks him to his feet. Looking back at Henry, Bad Guy 2 grins. "Shoulda thought about that before you got our attention." He bends over again. "Maybe we woulda put you before your son." With that, he jerks Shawn forward, ignoring how Shawn stumbles and nearly falls.
At the front of the room, Bad Guy 2 passes Shawn off to the lackeys. "Strip him," he says.
Shawn's eyebrows shoot up. "Wh-what? Str- strip me? As in, take off my clothes? Gentlemen, I'm flattered, and you're all very attractive, but I don't- it's only the first date, and besides, I have a girlfriend."
Bad Guy 1 shakes his head and the lackeys pause. Bad Guy 1 has stringy blonde hair, a dyed eyebrow (who the heck would dye their eyebrow? Just the one, not the other?), and pale blue eyes that look like ice. His nose is dotted with freckles, and his neck sports a tattoo that says LIVE. LAF. LUV. and Shawn has no idea whether the misspelling was intentional or if the guy just can't spell, but he figures it's not the time to ask.
Bad Guy 1 points to Bad Guy 2 (who, in contrast, has luscious black hair that could rival Shawn's own, great eyebrows, and dangerous green eyes). "Listen, I have a date tonight and I won't be able to get it on if I've seen any of their dongs. Take off their shirts and their pants, but leave their underwear on." He squints at Shawn. "Please tell me you're wearing underwear."
Relieved that he won't be completely naked in front of his father, Shawn nods rapidly. "Y-yes, I'm wearing underwear."
Bad Guy 1 nods slowly. "Good." He points to the lackeys. "Okay, strip him, but remember: leave the underwear on."
One lackey is significantly more buff than the other, and the buff guy takes to holding Shawn down while the other cuts the shirt off of Shawn's back.
"Oh, man," Shawn says as the shirt falls to the floor, "that was my favorite."
"Shawn, shut up!" Gus calls.
If he had use of his hands, Shawn would flip Gus off. He's not being very helpful right now.
The buff guy picks Shawn up and lays him on the bed frame. The metal is cold to Shawn's back, and he flinches upon contact. The skinnier lackey lifts Shawn's arms, grabs a zip tie, and binds Shawn's arms to the head of the bed frame. Once he's pinned, the buff lackey undoes Shawn's belt and pulls off his pants.
Logically, Shawn knows (hopes, more like it) that they probably won't rape him, especially if his underwear is supposed to stay on, but he still finds himself closing his eyes and turning his head away from the lackeys once they start on his pants. Over at the back of the room, he can practically hear his father's rage at these men.
"Should we oil him, boss?" the skinny guy asks.
"What?" Shawn, Henry, and Gus all say at the same time.
Bad Guy 1 (Shawn takes it that he's the head guy) shakes his head. "Nah. Let's just apply these electrodes to his body and then we'll be in business."
"What about the blindfold?"
Boss Guy smiles, and though it's not as unnerving as Bad Guy 2's smile, it's still pretty unsettling. "How could I forget?" he says, passing a bandana to the buff lackey. "Would you be so willing as to do the honors, Albert?"
Albert? That's not a very criminal-ly name.
The skinny guy takes the electrode from Boss Guy and places it on the left side of Shawn's chest. Boss Guy holds a wire with a bare end in one of his hands, and Shawn's stomach twists when he realizes what its use probably is.
Before Albert secures the blindfold around Shawn's eyes, Shawn looks to his father. "Dad, help," he whimpers. His heart rate picks up, and tears prick at his eyes. "Dad, please, help me. I- Dad, please."
Henry jerks against his restraints, knowing full well it will do absolutely nothing, but hoping that he can save Shawn nonetheless.
Shawn hasn't begged Henry for help like that since he was 4, and that was when he had a severe case of the flu. Henry felt just as helpless then as he does now.
Albert secures the blindfold around Shawn's head, tying it tightly. Shawn can no longer see, and his panic multiplies exponentially. He jerks his hands against the restraints, but he has no chance of escape. He waits for the first shock to go through him, but he first feels Albert move his leg and bind it with a zip tie. The skinny guy takes the other and does the same.
He's completely and utterly vulnerable, and not in a good way. The worst part is that he can't even see when Boss Guy is about to electrocute him; he's left in the dark, quite literally.
If his hands were by his sides, and if he weren't bound by zip ties, his hands would be shaking.
The wire just barely touches the right side of Shawn's neck, and the electrical current rushes through his body. His muscles constrict, tighten like someone's squeezing the life out of them. He opens his mouth, and he screams.
When Henry Spencer hears his son's screams, he hangs his head and tries not to throw up. It's the worst sound he's ever heard. Not only is Shawn screaming and pleading for mercy, but he's dying.
Henry would do anything to trade places with him.
When Burton Guster hears his best friend's screams, he's overwhelmed. Shawn is the strongest person he knows, and he has been stripped, almost entirely, of any sort of protection. Gus closes his eyes tightly and turns his face away from the drug lords.
Crying is weakness, and weakness means death.
He expected to feel relief when Boss Guy pulled away the bare wire, but when the currents stop rushing through his body, the only semblance of relief is the fact that he can breathe in shallow breaths. His heart races wildly, and he knows he won't be able to stand this for long.
Shawn counts the seconds that pass by without the feeling of electricity running throughout his body, but he doesn't allow himself to relax. Thirty seconds. Forty-five.
If he thought getting shot was painful, it doesn't even compare to the pain of electrocution.
After three minutes go by, Shawn knows, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the next wave is coming in less than sixty seconds.
Boss Guy touches the tip of the wire to Shawn's ribcage.
Flashes of color explode behind his eyelids, and he doesn't know how to breathe. The pain is more excruciating than even the first wave. His lung seizes, and he can feel his heart beating harder, faster. Any longer, and he'll die.
Shawn Spencer doesn't scream the second time around. He doesn't have enough air for it.
For Henry to see his son so vulnerable, and for him to be unable to help…it's his worst nightmare come to life. Henry wants to close his eyes, look away, pretend that this is not happening, but he can't tear his eyes away from his only child trembling on that bed frame, so small and so terrified. He seems so young, and when Henry blinks, he can see 7-year-old Shawn begging his dad to save him.
The boss pulls away the wire after what seems like an eternity (it's only been three seconds, which was five seconds shorter than the first shock), and Shawn's body almost gives out. He turns his head, trying to find a comfortable position. "Dad…please- please save me. Dad…"
Henry bites his bottom lip. He hasn't cried since Shawn was kidnapped a year and a half ago, but seeing his son like this…
He should have just kept his damn mouth shut.
Juliet O'Hara called her partner when Shawn failed to show up to their date. He has never stood her up, and if he couldn't make it (one time, he got really bad food poisoning thanks to Henry's cooking and vomited for three days straight, and she was so thankful that he cancelled on her), he always told her if he couldn't. If he's late, he texts or calls to tell her that he's going to be late. When he failed to contact her, she knew something was very wrong.
So she calls Lassiter, and even he admits that it's pretty fishy. He meets her at the restaurant, and they try to call Gus to see if Shawn's busy with something else, but he doesn't answer.
They made a trip to the Psych office, where they found Shawn's most recent case file. A Ms. Amy Elaine had told Shawn that she thought her boyfriend, a Neil Hendrix, was cheating on her. Lassiter recognizes both Ms. Elaine and Hendrix, and they make a trip to the station.
Both are a part of a major gang known as Los Ajenos. They're known for smuggling drugs and other contraband into and outside of the country. Amy Elaine is especially known for selling to high schoolers, and her crime partner, Lisa Rank, is known for pedophilia.
They've been tracking these people for months with nothing but a trace, and yet, they approach Shawn and target him.
Lassiter pulls up all reports of stolen vehicles in the past 24 hours and finds a stolen 2013 Denali. His eyes flash. "Come on, O'Hara," he says, grabbing his jacket. He points to McNab. "You, try and track that vehicle. I may not be Spencer, but I have an idea of where they are."
Sometimes, Carlton Lassiter really hates being right.
As they creep into the warehouse, guns drawn, they hear the sound of screaming. It's agonized screaming, and it only lasts for a couple of seconds. The lights flicker, and when Lassiter stops examining the lights, he notices that O'Hara has run in the direction of the screaming.
He runs after her, and shots are immediately fired. When he reaches her, he ducks behind crates of drugs. "What the hell are you doing?" he shouts over the sound of gunshots.
"They have Shawn!" she shouts back, steeling herself before she stands and fires twice. There's a thud, and Carlton peers around the crate to see that one of the lackeys is dead.
He rolls his eyes. "Y'know, we might have to put Spencer through a self-defense course." He stands up, takes aim, and shoots the other lackey in the head. "Clear."
He and O'Hara sprint to the door. They lock eyes and she nods once. He kicks in the door, guns raised.
Hendrix's partner is holding Spencer's mouth open. Inside Shawn's mouth is a bare wire. O'Hara stops in horror, and the color drains from her face.
Carlton is horrified by this. Never, never has he seen someone so evil as to torture people. At least Yin killed them quickly and then moved on with it. Granted, Yin also nearly killed O'Hara, but…
Shawn Spencer's body jerks randomly. In a few more seconds, he'll be dead, if he even has that long. As it stands now, he'll probably be paralyzed or a vegetable for the rest of his life.
Carlton shoots Adam Pollick twice: once in the neck, and once in the head. Sue him, put him in prison for it, but he needed to make sure Pollick was dead.
Pollick collapses after the first shot, and Spencer's body relaxes. O'Hara moves to take the wire from his mouth, but Carlton shakes his head and points to Guster and Henry. "Release them. I'll take care of Shawn."
His voice leaves no room for an argument, so O'Hara moves to release the other two.
Carlton immediately pulls the wire out of Shawn's mouth, and his body relaxes slightly. He presses two fingers to Shawn's neck and breathes out a small sigh of relief when he feels the thready pulse.
As soon as they clear the building (Hendrix slipped away from them as soon as he heard the first shots fired), Juliet releases Henry, and he wastes no time in getting up and rushing to his son's side. Lassiter steps aside and gives the two a moment, helping Gus out of the room.
The EMTs don't give him a moment, instead lifting him onto a gurney. "Are you his father?" one of them asks.
"Yes," Henry says, sniffling. "Yes, he's my son."
As they pass by Juliet and Lassiter, Juliet moves to go after Shawn, but Carlton holds her back, slowly shaking his head.
Once they're in the ambulance, Henry rests his hands over Shawn's heart and bows his head. "God, give me my son back," he prays. "Please, please, give me my son back."