By the time you read this chapter 16 should be just about finished. Chapters for this act all got really long, so they have taken considerably longer to write. Hopefully people will enjoy this case as much as the previous one. I love the premise but I'm not sold on my execution of it. :/ Only time will tell.

Here it is...The official start of Act 2, whose title was too long to put as the Chapter heading:

It's Only a Dangerous Game Until Someone Dies...Then it's Murder (Probably)

1988:

"If you two plan on earning that badge you have to learn some basic first aid," Henry sounded almost giddy as he slammed a giant medical kit down on the muddy ground of the woods. Shawn groaned. "Gus lay on the ground," Henry ordered and Gus silently complied. "Shawn, your partner has just been shot in the femoral artery. What do you do?"

Shawn stared blankly at his father, "He was shot in the what?"

Henry growled, "In the leg Shawn. Gus just got shot in the leg."

"I'm so not comfortable with this," Gus's small voice squeaked from the ground.

"Dad," Shawn rolled his eyes, "I thought you said we had to learn basic first aid. Like if Gus sprained an ankle or something."

"Why am I always the one who gets hurt?" Gus huffed indignantly as he rose into sitting position.

Henry glared at his son, "Fine, if you want to start with something as pathetic as a sprained ankle, we can," he turned and headed back towards the car, "But Shawn, one day you may have to seriously help someone out. And you damn well better be ready to step up son," Henry huffed as he walked away.

Shawn watched until his father was out of sight before he grinned and launched himself into a nearby tree. It was so hard to pay attention to his dad when there were vines hanging from the trees. He'd seen people swing from vines like them in jungle movies.

"Shawn, what are you doing?" His best friend questioned as he slowly got to his feet.

"I'm climbing Gus," Shawn replied simply.

"Shawn," Gus whined, "Your dad will be back soon!" He glanced nervously up the tree at his friend; Shawn was a really fast climber. He was already super high up.

"I know Gus, I just wanna climb a litt-" Shawn started as he lost his footing. The young boy plummeted to the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Mr. Spencer!" Gus yelled, just as Henry was approaching.

"Shawn!" Henry yelled; instinctively masking his concern with anger. Shawn was clutching his leg tightly. Henry groaned and swore softly; it was clearly broken.

Henry sank to his knees near his son, "Gus, bring the first aid kit." The small boy complied quickly. "This is going to be your first lesson Shawn, so pay attention," he said seriously, effectively stopping his son from moaning and writhing in pain, "If we want to get you to a hospital, we need to be able to move you, and to do that, we need to fix your leg," Shawn's eyes went wide as he realized what his father was saying. "So, you put one hand here, and the other here," he demonstrated as he took hold of his son's leg. Shawn started to shiver.

"Dad, please," he whispered, his hand grabbing out to his father. Henry's face became grimmer.

"Shawn, I'm not going to lie," Henry Spencer paused, "This is going to hurt you a lot more than me," he said quietly, snapping his son's leg back into place quickly as Shawn screamed.

Present:

"AHHHHH!" The two full grown men screamed girlishly, tragically dropping their pineapple smoothies as they entered their office.

"Woah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry; didn't mean to scare you," the elderly man standing before them said, taking a nervous step towards them with his cane as he offered his apologies.

Taking a deep breath, both the psychic and his best friends straightened their back, trying to look their tallest, most dignified, and most masculine.

"You, ah," Shawn laughed, "You didn't scare us," he shook his head.

Gus nodded, "At most, we were merely startled," his friend said suavely.

"Barely startled really," Shawn supplied, scratching behind his ear uncomfortably.

The man frowned. "Are you really supposed to be the psychic detectives?" He didn't sound impressed.

"Well, I'm Shawn Spencer, the psychic detective, and this is my associate, The artist formerly known as Silly Pants Jackson," Shawn introduced them as Gus looked at him oddly.

The elderly man nodded.

"What?" Shawn rolled his eyes at the appalled look on his friends face.

"I'm disappointed in you Shawn."

"Well you did go by Silly Pants…that one time," Shawn defended. Gus shook his head and moved to help the elderly man into a chair.

Shawn shrugged, "Ok…so I'm still a little off my game," he muttered, self consciously checking his hair. It had been over a week since the fire and it still wasn't its usual gorgeous self. He groaned.

"What can we do for you sir?" Gus asked cordially.

"My name is Charles Connell. My son has gone missing and I want you to find him," the man said, pulling the wallet sized picture of a beefy full grown man from his breast pocket.

Shawn shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry, Psych is currently restructuring management, and we aren't taking cases at this-"

"Shawn may I speak to you in private," Gus interrupted sounding irritated.

Entering their sidebar Shawn rolled his eyes again, "What? Gus, we took a case just last week…the one with the elephant and the race car driver; remember?"

"Shawn, that was a movie we watched last night," Gus hissed.

"Huh Really? It was super convincing," Shawn frowned contemplatively before his face split into a large grin, "But! We did take that 'is the boyfriend cheating 'case that ended with you getting the girls phone number," Shawn wiggled his eyebrows.

Gus grinned at the memory, "No! Don't change the subject!" Gus smacked Shawn on the arm.

"OW!"

"We had two other people come in trying to hire us to find missing relatives, and you turned them both down," Gus added in a hushed voice. Gus stared intently at his friend. While Shawn wasn't in the same funk he'd been in before, he still wasn't himself. And based on the massive bags under Shawn's eyes, along with the way his X-Box gamer score had sky rocketed, Gus wasn't entirely sure his friend was sleeping. At all.

"Shawn, if we want to pay rent this month we need cases," Gus said seriously. Cutting he is friend off before he could argue, "Serious cases that pay in more than phone numbers and Trident Layers."

Shawn grinned, "Come on Gus, you know you've always wanted to be paid in gum."

Gus didn't feel the need to dignify that with a response.

Shawn sighed, "Yeah, Fine. Ok, we'll take the case." Just to show his disagreement Shawn pouted as he sat down next to Gus, letting his friend conduct the entire interview.

"My son, Ricky, I last talked to him about two weeks ago. He was excited because he was about to go on a hunting trip with a few friends of his." The elder man explained. "I've called his cell and gone by his house, but he isn't there. The restaurant where he works says he hasn't been in either."

Gus frowned, "Have you contacted the police?"

The man nodded, "Of course I have! But I know how it is. He's a full grown man, more than capable of taking care of himself. For all they know he ran off with a girl," the elder Connell sighed, leveling the pair with an intense stare, "But I know my son detectives. Something is wrong. I can feel it," he nodded, patting a hand on his stomach, "In here."

Shawn nodded, fighting back a slight grin at the man's intensity; he got the feeling his and Ricky's fathers would get along splendidly.

"We'll take a look around," Gus promised, escorting the elder man out the door with a wave.

Shawn kicked his feet up on his desk as soon as the man had left. Gus sighed, "What are you doing? We have to go investigate this case."

"What?" Shawn sighed, "The police are probably right. That guy was massive. He can take care of himself; he probably did just go on a romantic weekend get away," Shawn waved his hand in the air flippantly, "Trust me Gus. I was right about the butler. I'm right about this."

Gus rolled his eyes, "Again with the butler thing?" Shawn hadn't let him forget that he had called the perp on their last case without even seeing the initial crime scene; a new record, even for him-even if it had been complete dumb luck.

Shawn flipped on the TV and ignored him. Gus sighed. As irritated as he usually was with his best friend, Gus was far from being fooled by Shawn's cavalier façade; something was still bothering him and his hair still looked horrible. "I'll buy new smoothies," he bribed. Shawn spun around, throwing the remote carelessly over his shoulder. They winced as the remote hit and shattered something.

Shawn's mouth pulled together into a grim line, "We can worry about that later." Gus nodded in agreement and the two exited. Pineapple smoothies and a new investigation; it was about damn time.

The Blueberry:

The ringing of Gus's phone interrupted a heated debate over who the best member of the A Team was; Mr. T was just too obvious in Shawn's opinion.

"This is Burton Guster."

Shawn took a loud slurp from his new smoothie. Gus tucked his phone between his ear and shoulder, keeping one hand on the wheel as he used his other to hit Shawn to shut him up. "Oh, that's great news!...Well, not great news but…Yes, of course," Gus glanced surreptitiously at Shawn who was watching the exchange intently, "We can be right over." Gus said ending the phone call.

"What was that?" Shawn inquired suspiciously.

Gus put his hands at ten and two and fixed his full attention on the road, "It was the Chief. She wants us to come check out a crime scene."

Shawn groaned and banged his head against the head rest, "Man! We're already on a case!"

Gus glared at his friend, "Shawn, its Thursday. The month ends next Wednesday. We need this case." Shawn glared at him, "Besides I already told Chief Vick we we'd do it."

Seeing as he wasn't actually driving, Shawn knew he'd lost. Angrily he crossed his arms, "Fine," he muttered tilting his head back.

Gus cast a confused glance over at his friend, "If this is still about Juliet…"

Shawn shook his head. Well, maybe it was a little bit, but not really. Juliet had, for some unfathomable reason, decided she didn't hate him the morning after the fire when she had stopped by, but he hadn't seen or heard from her since; not that he'd made a huge effort to. Him showing up randomly at the office like nothing had happened wouldn't help either of them.

However, his desire to stay out of official police business had more to do with the results of the last case. He'd been off his game and his poor judgments had nearly gotten everyone killed. And though he felt better, Shawn still didn't feel completely like himself. He felt like he was being watched and suffocated and, he ran a hand over his face, he felt like he was going crazy. Of course, that could just be his sleep deprivation talking.

Gus parked the car as close to the boardwalk as the police tape and barricades would allow. Popping out of the car Shawn put his best game face on as he jogged with false enthusiasm towards the congregation of officers on the shore.

"Lassie!" Shawn shouted enthusiastically, waving at the man as he jumped up and down.

"Spencer," Lassiter growled; his grip tightening around his pen instinctively.

Jules bit back a small smile; she hated to admit it, but a part of her enjoyed seeing her partner get as irritated and grumpy as he did when Shawn was around-it was usually fairly entertaining. She turned and watched Shawn as he jogged the rest of the way to the crime scene, feeling a whirl wind of emotions hit her. The usual giddiness she felt when she saw him and his goofy grin was still there, but it was tempered by a wave of new emotions she wasn't use to associating with him.

Her stomach knotted as she was reminded that he was here to continue, (what was most likely), his charade of being a psychic. But it was really his lie from their conversation in the Psych office the morning after the fire, which still played on a loop in her head, 'I'm not over Abbigail', that sent her stomach lurching to her throat and her heart painfully dropping to her toes. She swallowed hard, pushing those feelings down, favoring professionalism, as she watched his eyes dart around the crime scene as they always did.

Juliet frowned as she took a good look at his face. His hair was looking better; not its usual perfect disheveled self, but better. It was the bags under his eyes and the way his shoulders hunched in exhaustion that concerned her. Something was still very very wrong with her favorite charlatan.

"Heey Jules," Shawn greeted, his voice changing pitch almost imperceptibly, and his annunciation elongating just slightly, as he noticed her. He gave her a questioning glance, silently asking for her approval to be there. She smiled tightly, and gave him a small nod. No matter his methods or her personal feelings, he helped people. She wouldn't stop him; not yet. She was however planning on watching him like a hawk.

Grinning fully now that he had his favorite detective's approval, the fake psychic rubbed his hands together enthusiastically as he stared down at the body bag on the beach, "What have we got?"

Given their location, Shawn couldn't resist. He turned to Lassiter with a grin, "Dinosaur attack?" the psychic goaded the older man as Lassiter stiffened and sent a pleading look at the Chief. Vick rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I sincerely hope not, that would be so boring," Shawn continued, seemingly deep in thought, "I mean, we've already done that."

"It probably not a dinosaur attack Mr. Spencer," The chief said calmly, hoping to move the conversation along more productive lines, "As a matter a fact; we think we know the cause of death." The group moved towards the body bag.

Shawn raised an eyebrow, "Seems like you have a lot more then you usually do…why did you call us?"

Vick hesitated, and glanced over Shawn's shoulder to Gus. He felt Gus stiffen besides him.

"I um…," Gus swallowed hard and cleared his throat, wishing this hadn't come up, "I called her earlier and asked her to give us a case," Gus explained.

"Dude!" Shawn replied, horrified.

"We need to pay rent Shawn," Gus hissed.

Lassie's face split into a grin, "You two having trouble keeping your little charade of a business open?" he asked, his voice filled with glee.

"Carlton!" Juliet scolded instinctively. Instantly she felt a pang of guilt for snapping at her mentor, even if what Lassiter said was true, habits like defending Shawn from her partner were hard to break.

Shawn glared at his best friend angrily before turning his attention back to the crime scene with a sigh; they were here, and even if they had had to beg for it, they did need the case. "What do you have for us Chief?" He asked, sounding exhausted, earlier traces of enthusiasms gone. Now, he just wanted this case over with.

"This John Doe washed up on the beach. No wallet or Id. He was stabbed in the chest with a stick," Vick explained as she bent over the body.

Shawn perked up, "Vampires?"

Gus scoffed, "Shawn, don't be ridiculous. A vampire's body would be dust by now with all this sunlight!"

Shawn nodded; that was probably true.

Lassiter growled, "Right, that was the ridiculous part."

Vick glared at the men in front of her. "Do you want to see the body?" she asked sarcastically; her eyes telling them to get in line fast. They nodded.

Vick pulled the sheet back revealing the victim.

"Woah," Shawn and Gus said simultaneously. Shawn sighed; he was really gonna get it for holding the butler thing over Gus's head. Shawn turned to his best friend and whispered, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Gus nodded, his eyes wide.

"Mmhmm. And it seems all that hot air you were blowing earlier about trusting you was just that," Gus added, his voice laced with sarcasm. Irony was such a beautiful thing that Burton Guster actually managed to fold his arms and stand over the dead body without getting the least bit sick. This was too glorious to miss.

They turned back to the detectives in front of them, "This is no John Doe," Shawn declared. "His name is Ricky Connell. He went missing sometime in the last two weeks; most likely during his hunting trip, which explains the excessive camo." Shawn elaborated as he pointed at the body.

Lassiter blinked in surprise, "Why can't you always be that straight forward Spencer?"

"Shawn, was that a vision?" Juliet asked; hoping her underlying suspicion was masked by her genuine surprise. Usually he was much more animated during these sort of things.

Shawn shook his head, "I didn't need one Jules. His father hired us to find him this morning," Shawn explained grimly. Suddenly he turned to Gus, "How is that going to work exactly? We did technically find him right? We get paid?"

Gus rolled his eyes at his friend and walked away.

"What!" Shawn yelled after his friend before turning back to the assembled detectives who were looking at him strangely. Shawn shrugged off their disgust at his callousness with a sigh; "He's just feeling a bit moody," Shawn explained in a hushed voice, "I kinda drank his pineapple smoothie on the way over," he shrugged apologetically.

Good start to the second Act?

I hope so. Pleaseenjoy and Review, I'm nervous about this transtition from case to new case and how its going to go over.